Star Fall
by Hammer of Oblivion
Summary: After a horrible betrayal she left the Titans and Earth, now after fourteen years she's back and she is not the same. Teen Titans twist on DC's New 52.
1. Arrival

**My first attempt at a story on here. The story line is a Teen Titans cartoon take on DC's New 52, (specifically Red Hood and the Outlaws) and what made Starfire change. So yes Starfire will be a bit different in this story than she is in the Teen Titans.**

**Read and let me know what you think.**

**Chapter One**

**Arrival**

She looked at the vista below her. A blue planet shrouded in swirls of white clouds and glimpses of the landmasses and oceans beneath them. A planet with one major natural satellite that made for beautiful evenings that she one time enjoyed. She had loved this planet with its golden sun, the life it had in abundance and beings that lived on it. Things are different now. Once she was a hero and part of a team of heroes, and like her feelings for this world was in the past. Things happened that changed her perspective on life and the inhabitants of this backwater world that she once considered her adopted home. Now she saw this planet for what it was and the beings that lived on it for what they were; lying, dishonorable, cowardly beings that thought of themselves as higher than they really were. Even the ones she called friends and even one she loved were no different than the other beings of this world.

Unfortunately she could no longer remain on her home world. It no longer existed, destroyed by the very monsters that gave her the powers she had. She could not go to any other planet because Tamaranians were not welcome in many parts of the galaxy, or she would be captured and sold into slavery. She thought of being a mercenary, but many mercenaries knew who she was and the price that was on her head. No, for her, Earth was the only place that was safe, even if she swore she would never come back here.

She parked her small shuttle in a geosynchronous orbit, but outside of the range of the Justice League's Watchtower. The last thing she wanted was to have the Justice League aware of her presence, especially if he was a member now. So, she turned on the small ship's stealth mode and only the passive sensors were in use. She was looking for the specific radio isotope signature that she had spent most of the trip here calibrating the sensor for. It was her hope the sensor would pick up a reading and she could then zero in on the one person on this X'hal forsaken planet that might help her. Even that was a big risk, but there was no one else she believed she could turn too.

As she looked at the blue planet below her, she felt old memories surge within her. She did not expect that to happen and she felt the tears ready to burst from her eyes. She steeled herself up though and fought back the tears and instead filled her mind with thoughts of righteous anger. Thoughts of her betrayal by her friends, especially by the one who told her he loved her. It was their traitorous actions that drove her from her adopted home back the planet of her birth, Tamaran, and the intrigue of the Royal palace.

She focused on those thoughts of anger and pain. Anger at what happened to her on Earth by the ones she thought were her friends and at what she had to do on Tamaran and the pain she experienced there. Now she was a lost soul, not wanted by what remained of her people and not welcome on a world of beings not worthy of her presence. She still felt she had purpose though and maybe she could find it again here on Earth, where she found a purpose once before.

While lost in her thoughts, the sensor alarm alerted her that the sensor had found something. She looked down and stared at the blinking light and the readout on the display. She started to have second thoughts, now that she knew where her target was. How would she approach the one she was looking for and would this particular human even accept her? She sat there considering the readout; the target was in Central City. This presented a problem, as she remembered Central City was the home of the Flash, but she had to take the risk, now that she found her target. So, she said a quick silent prayer to X'hal, took one final breath of the ship's air, then set the ship on a course towards Earth's sun and made a quick exit from the cockpit with a portable sensor that was now honed in on her target.

She watched as the distortion of the ship's stealth mode headed in the direction of the sun while she absorbed the light of Earth's yellow star. Then she closed her eyes in resolve and made her way to Central City. As she descended into Earth's atmosphere, more memories returned that she fought to suppress. She channeled the training of the Warlords of Okarra by which she could lock away those memories. They called it the _Kolas tik Nal, _the Dungeon of Memory, though the memories were not gone entirely, they were locked away until she wished them released.

The _Kolas tik Nal, _was to allow a warrior to forget past friendships and alliances when needed for battle. Only the negative memories would remain in the conscious mind if any, allowing the warrior to fight and defeat former allies and friends without reservation when necessary. Only the most disciplined of warriors could effectively invoke the _Kolas tik Nal, _and she was the top of her cadre. Her trainers commented that only four other Tamaranians could fully invoke the _Kolas tik Nal _to the extent she could.

She was now over Central City and she kept her eyes alert for any movement below. Currently she kept to the clouds to keep the contrail of her flight energy from giving her away. Below she could see there was mayhem in the business district of the city. Vehicles were overturned, craters were in the road and a group of buildings had chunks of material missing, broken windows and carbon scoring from energy blasts along the outer walls. She saw a streak of red and yellow moving down one street and another streak of yellow and red coming up another. So there was another Kid Flash, before she left the former Kid Flash, Wally West had taken on the mantle of the Flash, meaning another young human had somehow gained super speed. The thought briefly amused her as she continued in her search.

The sensor she brought with her had triangulated on her target's position and she focused her eyes on that spot. There on top of one of the taller glass and steel structures she could see him. The costume remained the same even after all these years where others had modified theirs even when she was on this world. There was no mistaking that the human below was the one she was looking for. Hopefully the owner of the costume was the same as when she was here years ago. No matter how much her and the others tried, no one ever found out who wore the costume or how they acquired it. For all she knew the owner was someone else than the one who enjoyed taunting her former team mates all those years ago.

She watched him for a while to see what he would do before making her move. The costume seemed tattered, definitely the worse for wear. He was definitely hiding, not wanting to be seen by the Flash and his sidekick below, waiting for them to move on in their search for him, no doubt. She panned the skies making sure no other member of the Justice League, Titans or any other superhero or villain organization was around for that matter. She didn't see any so she positioned herself to swoop down and grab her target as quickly as possible before he knew she was there. She had to move quickly though because the red streak of the Flash was running up the building.

She zeroed in on her target as swooped down at supersonic speed, causing a sonic boom over the target area. This caused both the target and the Flash to look up. The Flash was now on the roof and streaking towards her target, she readied her star bolts and fired a volley in the Flash's path faster than he could react, knocking him off balance and tumbling to the edge of the building to be caught Kid Flash coming up from the other side.

She quickly flew over to her target and grabbed him under his arms then pulled him up closer to her with one arm as she fired star bolts back in direction of the two speedsters while flying into the clouds for cover. Fortunately her target did not teleport away like he normally would, but she surmised he was low on xynothium and may not be able to at the moment. She flew at a speed that was safe for both, but quick enough to be miles away from Central City. She lowered herself to the edge of the cloud bank to look for a place she could set them both down so they could talk.

She found a high hill with plenty of trees, giving them a bit of privacy. She set them both down in a small clearing, her target a little shaky in the knees at first but still enough bravado to force himself to stand and face his 'rescuer.'

"Well Cutie, long time, no see. All grown up now too, like the new look, whole lot more of you to see. Guess I can't call you cutie now can I. How about 'Gorgeous?' Yep, that works for me."

He then put his hands on his hips akimbo style. "So, Gorgeous, to what do I owe the honor of you plucking me off the roof of that building? Guess you missed me after all these years and just had to see me."

"First of all Red X, you will address me as Starfire, not Cutie or Gorgeous. Second of all, I did not miss you; I simply rescued you from being captured by the Flash and Kid Flash." Starfire said with a haughty glare.

Red X crossed his arms and chuckled behind his mask. "Oh really, rescued me huh? I could have handled those two bozos. Besides why would you want to rescue me? I'm the 'bad guy' remember, not exactly someone that a hero like you would want to rescue."

Starfire continued to glare at him. "Things have changed. My days as a hero on this world were over long ago Red X, I am a Tamaranian warrior princess, not the young naïve fool I once was." Then she deflated a bit and cast her eyes down to the ground. "To be the honest… I am seeking refuge and offer you my assistance as a return for helping me find a place to stay on this world."

Red X was stunned, he couldn't believe his ears. The last time he saw her she was one of the Titans and her only interest in him was to see him put behind bars and the Red X costume returned to her boyfriend. Now she's offering him her assistance if he only helped her find a place to stay. What a twist of fate, to say the least. He uncrossed his arms and strode closer to her.

"I'd say things have changed. Well princess, I could maybe find a use for your powers and abilities, though I tend to prefer stealth and wit over pure strength and firepower, it has its uses. Besides what villain or hero wouldn't mind a hottie like you around. Sure I'll help you, if you help me, what've I got to loose. Tell you what, I left my bike back in Central City, I need you to fly me back there so I can get it, then we'll head to one of my safe houses and we'll see what we can set up for you. Even catch up on old times and then snuggle up by the fire…"

"Red X, I said I would offer you the assistance, not do the snuggling with you. I will help you retrieve your motorcycle and return to the safe house with you, but lay one hand on me in any way, and you will not live to see another day."

Red X held up his hands. "Ok, no problem there princess, I won't lay a hand on you, but you can't blame a guy for trying. Take me back to the northern edge of the city and I'll take it from there."

Starfire hesitantly nodded in agreement, "Will you not worry of being caught by the Flash though?"

Red X shook his head, "Nah, I have enough xynothium to go to stealth mode where my bike is and back to the edge of the city with it before they know we're even there. So you ready princess?"

"I suppose that I am, but please refrain from calling me princess, that title means nothing here."

"Whatever you say princess, though it was you that called yourself, what was it…, oh yeah, a Tamaranian warrior princess." Red X said, with a smirk in his voice.

Starfire grimaced and roughly grabbed Red X on purpose then flew off with him dangling from her arms. She could hear him protesting, though she chose to ignore it. Fortunately for him he was smart enough not to struggle, or she'd just let him drop and take her chances, be what they may. Within minutes they were at the northern edge of Central City and Red X turned to her with his two finger salute.

"See ya in a bit Gorgeous." Then he leapt away from her and disappeared.

Starfire could tell she was in a rundown, seedier side of town, full of old shut down factories and decrepit looking warehouses. It reminded her of some of the places in Gotham or Bludhaven that she helped the one that hurt her patrol in. The memory of him came through her _Kolas tik Nal, _assaulting her with memories of a young man in a brightly colored costume who she grew to love during their time as team mates together and who took on a darker costume when he became a man. She knew him as Robin, then Nightwing, but he was always Dick Grayson. Of all the beings she knew in her life he was the one that made her the most happy, and then caused her the most pain through one act of betrayal. Now she felt the anger and hate again, and she struggled to repress the memory of that horrible person, to send his memory back to the abyss of memories.

"Starfire, is that really you? I can't believe it!"

Starfire jumped, startled at the sound of her name being called out in a voice other than Red X's. She turned to her left to see the Flash standing next to her with a big, goofy grin on his face.

"It is you! Wow, don't you look hot? If Dick got a sight of you in that getup he'd be falling… Aahh!"

The Flash flew back about ten yards and landing on his backside, feeling an immense pain around his left eye.

"Damn Starfire, what'd you do that for? I thought we were friends." The Flash said holding his left hand over his left eye and his right hand up to protect himself from a very feral looking Starfire.

"I am not your friend human, nor do I wish to hear the name of that human known as Dick Grayson. Now be gone before I cause you even more damage." She said with a star bolt formed on each hand, her eyes glowing brilliant green and her hair seemingly on fire.

"Geez Starfire, I know there's some history between the two of you, but for cryin' out loud it's been what… fourteen years now? Surely time has healed old wounds?"

"There will never be enough time to heal that wound, of that you can be certain now leave this place while you still can. Oh, and tell Dick Grayson not to look for me, I will kill him on sight." Starfire said with a low growl to her voice.

Flash sat there, his jaw agape, not believing what he just heard from Starfire. She'd always been so loving and caring of her friends before, now she was threatening to cause a world of hurt on him and kill Dick if she saw him. I guess it was good never to piss off a Tamaranian.

Flash slowly got up on his feet, the pain around his left eye was making him feel dizzy. No way could he use his speed now, he'd end up losing his balance and heading head first into a wall, possibly killing him.

"Ok Star, I'm outta here. I just hope you're not going down the wrong path. The others will hunt you down and the Justice League will get involved…"

"Do not worry about me Flash, you need to worry about yourself. My patience is wearing thin…" Something caught her eye and she fired a blast in the direction of the movement.

There was a yelp and a now tripped up Impulse tumbled a few yards in front of her.

"Take care of your whelp Flash, I have no problem with killing either of you at the moment."

Flash nodded and headed over to check on Impulse, who was lying in a pile of debris moaning from the pain caused by the concussion of Starfire's star bolt. He didn't see any major damage, but he could barely see to begin with. While he was checking on Impulse he heard the sound of a performance tuned motorcycle ease up near them. He looked up in time to see Starfire climb on the back of Red X's motorcycle and the road off together, heading north on State Highway 45.

"No way…"

**Yes it is convenient that Red X was found, but needed to for the sake of the plot. Also Starfire is more warrior-like since she has lived there again for some time now and is more like her people. No more nice Starfire for now. Oh there is no plan for a Red X/Starfire relationship, this is not a romantic story.**


	2. Bludhaven

_**Guest: This story is only influenced by New 52 and not fully following it and is from a perspective of the TV show and not so much the comics. That being said Raven is in the story and will play a part as a Titan. **_

**Chapter 2**

**Bludhaven**

Dick Grayson was preparing for his night patrol as Nightwing. He had a quiet day at the station, mostly paperwork, but it gave him good leads for tonight's work. Being an officer on the Bludhaven Police Department was a great way to get leads for his real profession as Nightwing, protector of Bludhaven. He had just arrived at the Nightwatch and started up the console to monitor the city's nighttime activities. His console wasn't as big as the one in the Batcave, but it did its job. Besides his ran on more efficient processors, using the latest in WiFi and holographic technology that he and Cyborg put together. He was preparing his equipment when the console notified him of an incoming call. He clicked on the answer button and the face of Wally West, the Flash appeared, his left eye having a vicious looking black eye.

"Wally what in the hell happened to you? Did you run into a truck?"

"No, but I think a truck would've done less damage."

"Don't tell me it was Cinder Block. I thought that rock crusher he fell into did him in."

Wally tried to smile, and shook his head. "No, it wasn't Cinder Block, pretty sure he's gone, nor was it Gorilla Grodd or any other of my Rogue's Gallery."

"Well out with it then, what happened?"

"Dick, you ain't gonna believe it, but it was a blast from the past, an old flame of yours that I ran in to."

Nightwing felt a twinge in his stomach, and he swallowed hard before he spoke again. "What're you saying Wally?"

"Dick, I'm not sure I believe it myself, but Bart and I were tracking your old nemesis Red X and ran into Starfire."

Nightwing's face was stone cold, but inside he was a tempest of emotions. Starfire back on Earth… Why now, why at all? She left here because he hurt her in such a horrible way and not only that the other Titans tried to cover for him, but it was too late she already knew. Their covering up for him only made things worse making her feel humiliated and disrespected. She left without saying goodbye to any of the Titans which resulted in him eventually leaving the Titans and turning over the leadership to Cyborg.

He worked in Gotham for a while before setting up shop in Bludhaven. During that time he worked at Wayne Industries and later as a cop in Bludhaven while getting his feet wet there. He was up for detective now and well established in the sister city of Gotham.

He never forgot what he did to Starfire though and he drowned his sorrow in booze and women for a while. Sometimes with ones he picked up in clubs as Dick Grayson and even one of the female superheroes here and there from the Titans or the Justice League, but at first he didn't allow himself to fall in love again, he just used them for his needs. After a while he rekindled a romance with Barbara Gordon, who was now Oracle, no longer Batgirl, because of paralysis caused by a bullet to the spine courtesy of the Joker. They even got engaged, but then he went with Batman on a journey and the engagement was put on hold and later called off when he took on the mantle of Batman for a while, when everyone thought Bruce Wayne was dead. Then Bruce suddenly returned and Dick Grayson happily became Nightwing again.

"Hey there Dick, you still with me? Did your brain leave or something? Hey…"

Nightwing jerked himself away from his brooding thoughts. "Yeah, I'm here. Got lost in thought there for a minute. Are you sure it was her, maybe it was someone else…"

"Oh it was her alright. You know tall, legs that go on forever, thick red hair down to her calves, emerald green eyes and a body that wouldn't quit… star bolts, glowy eyes, flight, super strength, all the things that make up Starfire."

"So, I'm assuming it was her that gave you that helluva shiner?"

"Yeah you can say that. Seems the mention of your name brings out the feral cat in her. I'd stay clear of her if I were you Dick, she pretty much said she would kill you if she saw you."

Nightwing felt dejected at that, but he didn't blame her. He knew that even though it had been a little over fourteen years ago when she left, she'd never forgive him or the Titans. If not for his stupidity, she'd still be here and his wife, instead she left and from what he heard married a Tamaranian prince or some important figure there. He didn't keep up with her much after that, why bother, she was gone and part of her people again on a planet 26 light years away and he was here on Earth. He made the best of it and moved on, now here she was back on Earth and the old wounds were opening again.

"So why was she in Central City Wally, no offense, but that doesn't seem like a place she'd show up in?"

"I don't know Dick, but the weird thing was is that she rode off with Red X. If I didn't see it, I wouldn't have believed it myself."

Nightwing grimaced at what Wally just said. Red X of all people she'd be seen with. Something definitely was wrong and he needed to find out, but carefully of course. Didn't need her going ballistic on him, no he'd use the resources of the Titans and the Justice League to see what was going on.

"Wally, she must be desperate to come back to Earth and hook up with Red X. I'd say she sought him out and that's why she was in Central City. She found him and now she'll either be working with him or using him to hole up for a while, something he was always good at. For now get that eye looked at. If Starfire caused it, you may have some broken bones in your face. I'll contact the Titans and the Justice League about this. We'll find her and bring her in, hard if we have too. The last thing we need is an overpowered angry and desperate Tamaranian running around on Earth."

"Sounds like a plan Dick. Oh and I got a picture too from my Go Cam. You might wanna take a look."

Nightwing hesitated a bit, then answered; "Sure, load it up."

The picture appeared on the screen and Nightwing gulped hard. It was definitely Starfire alright, no doubt about that, but different. She was harder looking, more warrior and barbaric looking. She reminded him of one of those old Boris Valejo fantasy prints with the barbarian warrior woman, all she needed was a battle axe or massive sword in her hand and sitting on the back of some prehistoric beastly feline or dragon with overgrown fangs for her steed. The neck brace, bracers and boots were pretty much the same purple Tamaranian armor she used to wear, but the rest barely covered the essentials. How she could move and walk around in that, without falling out, he had no clue, but she was Tamaranian and nudity was not really an issue for them. After he got over the shock of seeing his former lover again on his console screen he said goodbye to Wally and keyed in two different contacts. Soon the faces of Cyborg and Raven appeared on the screen.

"Well now, what's up Dick, you calling to accept that invitation to join the League."

"No Vic, not this time, but I do need you to get Batman on the line if he's there, if not I'll call him later."

"He's here Dick, I'll get Martian Manhunter to put him on the line. So was'up?"

"I'll tell you in a minute, Hey Raven is Tim there?"

"No he isn't, just me, Gar and some of the new kids. Your aura tells me you're upset."

Nightwing grimaced at Raven, he really couldn't hide much from her and was why he wanted Tim on the line, the Red Robin and current leader of the Titans.

"Just a little, but you'll know soon enough."

Another face appeared on the screen and Nightwing could feel the irritation in the glare from that face. "What is it Nightwing? We're a little busy here."

"Nice to see you to Batman, but you'll want to know this, all of you will," He paused for a moment then continued.

"Now that I have all of you online, I need to tell you that Flash just contacted me with some urgent news. Seems Starfire is back on Earth and she's with Red X."

Nightwing tried to gauge the look on their faces. Cyborg made an 'O' with his mouth and his one human eyebrow arched upwards. Raven looked down, her face visibly showing sadness. A corner of Batman's mouth barely moved, but he didn't expect much from Batman anyway.

"I see. What do you plan to do Nightwing?" Batman asked flatly.

"Find out what drove her back here. She wouldn't have come back unless something bad happened on Tamaran and she has no other place to go. I'd say her being with Red X, shows her desperation. After that, find out where she is and keep her out of trouble. She's too powerful to let her run around loose on the planet. We need a plan though, or we all could get hurt or killed."

"Agreed, I will have Cyborg work with Martian Manhunter and the Green Lanterns to determine what happened in the Vega sector. Raven, you work with Red Robin to get the word out the Titans across the globe. We don't need an incident with her though until we find out what is going on and why she's here. Nightwing, you keep your head straight on this, I know how that girl affects you and you need to control any impulse you might have for her at the moment. Do you understand?"

Nightwing bristled under Batman taking over the conference call, but he knew he was right. The best action was to observe from a distance and gather as much intel as they could before going after her, if it came to that.

"I agree Batman, but I want all intel filtered through the Nigthwatch servers and no action to be taken unless I know about it."

"Yes, I agree to that Nightwing, no need in keeping you in the dark on this. Cyborg will start right away, Raven you too. Nightwing send me any information you may have and tell Flash to report immediately."

"He should be there soon Batman, Starfire knocked him and Impulse around pretty bad, and they'll need medical attention."

Batman's grimace turned darker, "If things go bad we may need to take her down. Will you have a problem with that Nightwing?"

Nightwing sighed, then shook his head, "No Batman, the protection of Earth's citizens are more important and she can be quite dangerous. If we can't win her back over then we all will do what is necessary."

"Good, Cyborg and Raven do you agree?"

They both agreed, they knew the seriousness of the situation though they hoped for the best.

"Alright then, let's get to work." Nightwing said then signed off from the communications link.

"So much for patrolling tonight," he said to himself while staring at the screen that now was only displaying the Nightwing logo.

After a moment he opened up the documents file and pulled up the file marked "Starfire." He hadn't looked at that file in years. Inside the folder was all the information he had compiled on her since their days as Teen Titans long ago. There was a subfolder marked "Images," he clicked on that and several thumbnails of pictures and videos popped up. He looked at several pictures and videos of her, him with her, or with the Titans, the images bringing up memories that were both happy and sad. He then found the last picture he took of her before she left. They were at the pier in Jump City and she was standing on the edge with the sun setting behind her. She had big smile on her face and was leaning against the pier railing wearing civilian clothes, shorts and a purple tank top. He smiled sadly at the photo, knowing that two days later alcohol and his own stupidity would cause him to betray her.

"Well are you going to torture yourself all night staring at memories?"

Nightwing jumped, startled at the female voice behind him. He turned quickly to face the voice, poised in a defensive posture, relaxing on seeing who it was.

"Back in the suit a little early don't you think?" He asked his guest.

"He seems to think I'm ready, I have full control of my muscles again and I passed all his tests. You see before you the wonders of modern medicine and technology, thanks to Wayne Biotech." The woman said stepping into the light and revealing the blue-black form fitting spandex and Kevlar body suit, cowl and cape.

"Barbara, why are you here, bit of a coincidence don't you think?"

"I won't lie to you Dick, he called me, told me to get over to the Nightwatch pronto. He said Starfire's back and he knows how obsessive you can become. He wants you to take me out on patrol, get me back into the game. He said it will help to keep your head clear."

Nightwing glared at Batgirl. He still found it hard to believe that Barbara Gordon could walk again, let alone be able to don the Batgirl suit. He knew Batman had been retraining her after the experimental implants and surgeries successfully gave her control of her legs again, but he still felt uncertain about her abilities. He was also irritated that Batman was again meddling in his life.

"Tell Bruce I don't need him sticking his nose into my business. I'm not obsessing, I'm researching. Yes Starfire is back and with Red X it seems. I…, I mean we need to make sure she stays out of trouble. Now run on home Barbara, I can take care of myself."

Batgirl smirked at him, "Sure you can, that's why you've been staring at her pictures. How's that research?"

Nightwing scowled, "I have to start somewhere."

"Sure you do, but staring at old pictures of you former girlfriend isn't that place Dick. Listen I know Bruce is meddling by sending me here, but I couldn't exactly tell him no, I'm kind of indebted to him. Besides when I found out, I wanted to be here if you needed someone to talk to."

Nightwing looked down at the ground, "Where do I start then Babs? I can't just ignore the fact that she's back and running around with an old nemesis now can I? What would Bruce have me do?"

Batgirl walked up closer to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Dick, he doesn't want you to ignore that she's back, he just wants to make sure you don't run off after her. You have a tendency to be compulsive like that you know."

He jerked up his head angrily at Batgirl and glared darkly at her, then softened a bit when he saw the sincerity in her eyes. She was right, he was compulsive and the thought did cross his mind to take a trip to Central City. He relaxed and sighed in resignation.

"It's just…, just that I never got to apologize to her or ask forgiveness. She was so upset, she left before I could say anything. A few days later, there was a communication from Tamaran, I thought it was her, but it was Galfore, telling me that if I tried to contact her in any way…, that he would have my head on a pike and displayed at the palace gates and my body fed to _snorfblats." _

Batgirl looked down and turned away from him. "I understand Dick and I'm just as guilty as you are for what happened. I wish that it never happened, but it did, and…"

Nightwing walked up behind Barbara and placed his hand on her shoulders. "Barbara, that's in the past, and maybe Bruce is right, I need to be out on patrol, and retraining you. Some action will clear my head.

He let her go and went over to put on his remaining equipment.

"You know, it's not that she's back that bothers me more than that she's with Red X. Almost like she sought him out. Why would she do that?"

Barbara shrugged, "Who knows, I'm sure there's a reason though. You're not jealous are you?"

Nightwing smiled and chuckled at that. "I don't know, maybe I am, but it does seem peculiar. I haven't seen him in a while either. Been nearly a year since there was a sighting, in Houston I think it was. He comes and goes… You know after all this time, I never figured out who he was or how he got the suit in the first place or how he was able to make new belt after I took the one he had."

Batgirl pursed her lips in thought, then smiled mischievously at Nightwing. "Tell you what Dick, you take me out on patrol and I'll hack into Bats' classified files, he's gotta have something on Red X, he has files on everyone."

Dick smiled back at her. "That he does… Sounds like a plan, let me finish suiting up then we'll start over at the cannery district. Word has it that there'll be some action there tonight."

"Great Dick, look forward to it!" Batgirl said in anticipation.

Nightwing finished securing his gauntlets, took a final inventory of his equipment then headed out on patrol with his current protégé. Tonight might end up being a productive night after all.

* * *

**For those who know a bit about comic lore, you probably know what the betrayal was, but don't spoil it for those who don't.**

**Any way more to come.**


	3. Safe House

**Long chapter, but I have my reasons ^_^**

**Chapter 3**

**Safe House**

The safe house was not what she expected it to be. The Titans, Batman and other superheroes had safe houses as she remembered, but they were usually in old warehouses, old houses, service garages or the occasional backup headquarters like the Titans had in Central America like the one Beast Boy used to plan his attack on the Brotherhood of Evil. Instead this was a rather nice middle class home on the banks overlooking the Mississippi River and surrounded by trees with a gravel driveway that led off from the secondary county road they took to get here. The closest neighbor was about a quarter of a mile away and she could not see their house from here.

She was standing in the kitchen wearing a pair of cutoff sweats and an old black T-shirt with a logo of a rock band on it. She was looking out of the kitchen window watching the flow of the river. The house itself sat on a bluff overlooking the river, and was set back about 100 feet from the edge of the bluff to protect it from all but the most devastating floods. She was sipping on a cup of mustard she poured herself while waiting for Red X to finish showering.

The house was cozy and she found it to her liking. While she lived on Earth she had only been in a few homes besides Titans Tower that she shared with the others. The Tower was cold and mechanical, like the interior of a space ship, but it had a nice view. The only others she stayed in were Wayne Manor, a cold, dark, brooding structure like its owner; the apartment she shared with Dick Grayson for a while before she left and the home of Beast Boy's foster parents Steve and Rita Dayton. She realized in all the time she had spent on this world she never really saw what regular humans lived like.

She heard footsteps behind her, "Like the view?" A voice said belonging to Red X, though it no longer had the filtered quality caused by the mask.

"It is a most pleasant view. I forgot how much water there is on this world. The river is very serene and calming to look at in this setting," She said still looking out the window.

"Yeah it can be pretty calming. You hungry? You know that mustard would taste a lot better on a hot dog or burger. I can grill us up some if you'd like?"

"Thank you, I am the famished. I hope you do not mind that I poured myself a cup of mustard. I so missed this wonderfully tangy beverage while back on Tamaran."

"No problem Gorgeous. I heard you liked the stuff as a drink, didn't believe it until now. So hey, let me fire up the grill, and we'll be eating in no time."

"Please, will you call me Star…" She was in the middle of turning around to face him, but what she saw stopped her in mid-sentence.

The voice was that of Red X, but the young man she was looking at was not wearing the Red X mask. It was a little disconcerting to her to see him without his mask on. It was months after she arrived on Earth before she saw Dick Grayson without his on and that was by accident. Now she sees Red X without the mask and it was only a few hours after their quick alliance. Not only that she was shocked at how similar to Dick Grayson he looked, well at first anyway. His hair was black like Dick's but not as shiny or full bodied, instead his was strait and he kept it cropped short. His eyes were blue, but not the deep cerulean blue that Dick's eyes were, more of a sky blue. The facial structure was more round as were his eyes, but there was a hardness to his eyes that Dick's never had. He also had a permanent smirk on his face and a cocky sense of arrogance like someone who thought he was more than he really was. He was built heavier than Dick was too, not fat, but larger framed, more like a, she had to think what they were called…, like a boxer.

"You were saying Gorgeous?" He said with a cocky, but friendly smile.

"Uh, oh yes, please just call me Starfire." She said turning her eyes away from him.

"Sure, but Gorgeous fits you too. By the way, do you have a name other than Starfire? I mean c'mon, I wasn't born with the name Red X you know."

Starfire smiled at him a little. "I surmised as much, but Earth customs are strange and to be honest I did not know that "Robin" was not his real name for some time until he told me that he was Dick Grayson. I only knew him as Robin. But to answer your question, Starfire is a close translation of my Tamaranian name in English."

"Wow, so you really are Starfire, that's interesting. I thought you had another name though since I heard Dick call you Kori sometimes."

Starfire raised an eyebrow at that. "And when did you hear him call me that?"

"Oh at different times here or there, but that's not important now, so what's up with him calling you Kori."

"It is a short version of my Tamaranian name, Koriand'r."

"Well that makes sense. I like the name, Kori seems to fit you."

"You may call me Kori if you wish, I do not mind since it is my name."

"Sure, Kori it is then," Red X said with a smile and wink.

"Now that you know the truth about my name, do you mind telling me just who you really are Red X?" Starfire said crossing her arms and jutting her left hip out.

Red X grimaced then shrugged. "Sure why not, if we're going to be partners then you may as well know who I am. Hello Starfire, my name is Jason Todd, pleased to meet you."

Starfire wrinkled her brow upon hearing that name. "Jason Todd, Jason Todd…, wait a minute are you not Dick's adopted brother? I thought you were dead."

Jason smirked and shook his head, "Yes I am one of the Wayne boys and no I am clearly not dead. Though I came real close, the Joker nearly beat me to death, and tried to finish me off while blowing up the warehouse he was holding me in, but I was able to crawl out in time and out of the blast zone. Batman found me and thought I was dead, but saw that I wasn't. He set things up to make it look like I was dead though to bring out the Joker from hiding and to tell you the truth I stayed in a coma for nearly a year in a very private hospital in Switzerland, but I survived."

"So you've been Red X all along, well except for the time Robin was Red X, but all the other times it was you?"

"Yep, it was me, and you know what, ole Bats put me up to it. He wanted the suit himself, wanted to know how Dick made it and got it too work. He gave me the codes to the Tower, and I got in one day while you all were out, took the suit and equipment then high-tailed it out of there. I couldn't resist trying it out though and taunting Dick with it. It was fun until he got the belt that controlled the suit, which earned me the ire of Batman, but I did download the plans and was able to make a new belt with Batman's resources. For a while I lived a double life, one as the second Robin and the other as Red X, until my near death that is."

Jason paused for a moment looking down at his bare feet then back up at Starfire, smiling at her. "When I got back I didn't want to be Robin anymore, so I stole the suit from Bats and started my own life as Red X, master thief, defender of the oppressed and scourge to the oppressor. As long as I stay out of Gotham, Bats leaves me alone, so I hit different cities here and there, but not always as Red X, sometimes I'm just Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne's prodigal foster son. Most times though, especially in Gotham, I'm the Red Hood, wielder of cold justice. Besides as much power as the suit gives me, I don't like wearing it for long, xynothium is not the safest stuff to be wearing as a fashion statement and too many teleport jumps makes one quite ill after a while. So I've been Red Hood more often than Red X lately."

Starfire smiled nervously at Jason, "Uhm, so… you normally do not don the Red X costume?"

"Nope, not anymore, unless I need to get something that is heavily guarded or deep in some vault. Which was the case today, fortunately I was able to get what I went after, which I'll be handing over to my client later today… after we eat of course." He then rummaged in the refrigerator for the items he needed, pulling out some pre-made patties and a package of hotdogs.

"If you wish you can join me on the deck while I grill these up."

"I would like that yes," Starfire said, following Jason out the sliding glass door to the wooden deck in the back of the house.

Starfire stood at the edge of the deck, taking in the view, the sounds, the scents all around her now. It was warm by Earth standards, but mildly pleasant to her. She could hear the birds singing, calling out to each other, the insects and their various noises, the distant sound of a river boat horn coming from the river that somehow made her feel melancholy and causing the old memories to try to surface in her conscious again. She closed her eyes in an effort to drive the memories back to their dungeon using her _Kolas tik Nal _training. It was hard, but she must or she would be weak again, like she was when she lived here years ago. There was one voice that would not go away though and she fought hard against it, but it was persistent. She then realized the voice was outside her mind and jumped with a start.

"Oh hey, are you ok? You seemed gone there for a minute."

She glared at the male before her, wanting to blast him, then she remembered where she was and looked down at the wood planks of the deck, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Excuse me, I was, oh how do you say… 'lost in the thought.' Were you saying something to me?" Starfire asked Jason quietly in an attempt to calm down the warrior in her.

"I'd say you were lost Kori, looked like you were in pain too. Everything alright?"

Starfire regained her composure. "I am well Jason, I was just acclimating myself to Earth again, it has been a while and the lush environment can be overwhelming."

Jason nodded his head, "Sure… Anyway I was asking you if you were worried about the Titans or Justice League catching up with you. I'm sure the Flash has notified them you're here? You're not gonna get all sentimental if you see them are you?"

Starfire shook her head and grimaced, "Jason for your information those people are nothing to me anymore, but sights and scents. As a Tamaranian, I have no reason to remember humans or things about them. To be honest, once I move on that is all you will be to me as well. I once made the mistake of thinking of humans and their ways as equal to that even better than that of my people, but after fourteen years of living on my homeworld again it was clear to me how foolish that was. I will not make that mistake again."

The look on Jason's face was a thoughtful one, "Dick really hurt you didn't he?"

Starfire's face grew hard, "You are not to mention that one's name again in my presence, is that understood!" She commanded.

Jason smirked and held up his hand as if to wave her away. "Sure, not a problem with me, we'll just leave it at that. The burgers and dogs will be done in a bit. I need to run in and get us some buns, chips and stuff. You wanna help?"

She nodded her head in agreement, "Yes, tell me what you need."

"Great, we'll bring the stuff out here and eat on the deck, c'mon." Jason turned and headed back to the kitchen and Starfire followed him back in.

He grabbed a pack of hamburger and hotdog buns, and asked her to grab some plates while he got the cheese, garnishes and condiments ready. They brought what they could outside, then he turned off the grill and they went back and grabbed a bag of chips and six pack of craft beer, bringing everything to the table on the deck. He then put the burgers and dogs on a platter and brought those over to the table and started to make himself a plate.

Starfire watched as Jason made his plate and she did the same, she'd almost forgotten how to eat human food, and had to remember human etiquette. She was famished though and had quite a few burgers, hot dogs and chips. Jason stared at her in amazement, not believing she could eat that much. The burgers and hotdogs she had were very good to her and she thanked Jason for making them.

"Glad you liked them Kori. You must have been hungry?"

"Her cheeks flushed, feeling somewhat embarrassed. "Yes, very, I am sorry to have eaten some much, like some half-starved _snorfblat._

"No, no…, that's fine. I'm sure that long of a trip made you a bit hungry. So tell me what brings you back to Earth?" Jason asked.

Starfire toyed with the remains of the food on her plate, then looked up at Jason. "I would rather not speak of that just now." She said then continued to toy with the stray chips.

"Ok, it's your business." He said then drank some beer. "Mind helping me clean up here, I need to meet my client soon and I can't keep them waiting."

"Sure, I can help. Will you need my assistance with your client?" Starfire said in an unsure voice.

"Not this time, they're easily spooked and I'm afraid your presence will do just that. Instead you can hang around here, watch TV or browse the Internet or just take a nap. I shouldn't be too long though."

Starfire nodded her head. "Alright, I would like to see how much has changed since I left and I do feel I need some rest." She stood up and stacked their plates.

They both cleaned up the table and the kitchen, then Jason headed upstairs.

Starfire walked into a room that contained a couple of sofas, overstuffed reclining chairs and a large flat screen television mounted on a wall at one end of the room. She looked around and found what she was looking for, and picked up the rectangular implement covered in buttons that humans called the remote. She looked at it and remembered the symbols and their usage, then pointed it at the television, turning it on. The TV automatically displayed a menu of available programming and she perused through it until she found a news based channel, selecting it to watch. She then sat down on one of the sofas and curled her legs under her, numbly staring at the screen.

Her thoughts were less on the talking head and video clips of war, politics and banal entertainers; they were instead on what made her leave Earth in the first place and the events that drove her back. As much as she wanted, and no mastery of the _Kolas tik Nal _would help her to forget the betrayal of Richard Grayson and the other Titans, it was the turning point in her life. It was what reminded her that she was not a human of this Earth, but a princess of Tamaran and had once been Grand Ruler. She realized in that moment she had only been fooling herself for the past few years hoping to find friendship and love in such lowly creatures. Though Richard Grayson's betrayal was hurtful enough, it was the one she considered her adopted sister, Raven that angered her the most. Raven's attempt to enter her mind to make her forget Richard Grayson's betrayal was a violation of her being and she hated Raven for it.

In her anger she blasted Raven with a star bolt as well as the others that were there and in her rage flew from Wayne Manor as fast and as far as she could to run from the humiliation brought upon her. When she calmed down, she found herself in the Alpha Centauri system. She looked back in the direction of Earth's sun and for a minute thought about going back, if only to hear his side of the story. The humiliation was too much though and instead she turned toward her home star, Vega and after recharging her energy at Alpha Centauri, she headed home.

When she arrived at the palace, Galfore knew right away something was wrong. When she told Galfore of the betrayal, he wanted to declare war on Earth, but she disapproved. Instead she told him the people of Earth were not worth the time or energy. Instead she wished to return to her status as princess, and resume her duties to Tamaran. Galfore agreed and sent a communication to Nightwing warning him to never try to communicate with Starfire, or Princess Koriand'r ever again or he would personally behead him.

Shortly after her return she was married in a state marriage to Prince Karras of Kallapatt, the southern continent of Tamaran. The marriage was arranged by their parents before she was even born and now she was obligated to honor it. Of course the war with the Citadel, the incident with Blackfire and her making Galfore the Grand Ruler changed things at the time, but the arrangement was still technically in force.

The marriage was a pleasant one for an arranged marriage and she learned to love Karras very much. He was a good man and a fine warrior and he adored her greatly, though in truth, like many Tamaranian royals, he had a lover on the side, a woman who he could never marry as she was a commoner, though a fine officer in the Royal Fleet. It was in the fleet where Karras met Tayria and she became his first officer when he was captain of a Tamaranian war cruiser. Out of respect and love for Starfire, Karras told her up front about Tayria. She told Karras she understood and was thankful for his honesty, but inside she hurt knowing Karras would never fully be hers.

Though he loved both women, it was Tayria who owned his heart. It saddened Starfire, but Karras did all he could to make her happy, and he was even willing to call off his affair with Tayria. She would not allow it though, knowing it would hurt him deeply if he did. She understood, even if she hated Richard Grayson for what he did to her, unfortunately he would always own her heart and it made her despise him even more. That she'd given her heart to a human that betrayed her made her feel ashamed and not worthy of her title, but she would always hold her head up high.

Unfortunately she would lose Karras in a terrorist attack on the palace staged by his own estranged sister, Xyannis. The attack also killed Tayria, and the child she was carrying. Starfire tried to give Karras a child too, a true royal heir to both thrones, but she could not conceive. The physicians were not sure as to why, but attributed it to the genetic manipulation the Psions did to her years ago, the same manipulation that gave her and her sister the ability to fire star bolts and eye beams and to fly in space unaided for an unlimited amount of time.

With help from the Omega Men, the Tamaranian government was able to subdue the terrorists and it was then she found out her brother was still alive and part of the Omega Men. When he found out his sister Koriand'r was back on Tamaran, he returned home. Galfore, who was injured in the terrorist attack, offered the Crown to Ryand'r and he took it reluctantly becoming the new Grand Ruler and to strengthen his reign he proposed a marriage between Koriand'r and General Ph'yzzon of the Order of the Golden Sun and highest ranking officer of the Tamaranian Army. Starfire agreed, but reluctantly since Ph'yzzon was much older than her.

Ryand'r also reached out to their older sister Blackfire and promised her pardon of all crimes against Tamaran and the royal family, if she agreed to be his High Counselor and Foreign Minister. Blackfire agreed and returned to Tamaran and assumed the role of High Counselor and Foreign Minister. She also made an attempt to be cordial to Starfire, claiming she had repented of her actions and wished to be a true sister to both her siblings. Starfire accepted Blackfire's offer to forgive all past crimes and for a time the And'r family ruled Tamaran again and into prosperity.

After a few years of marriage to Ph'yzzon, Starfire finally conceived a child and there was a great celebration in the palace. The pregnancy filled Stafire's heart with joy, the thought of being a mother helping her to forget the sadness of her past. She happily prepared the palace nursery, decorating it in traditional purples. Unfortunately her joy would be replaced with sorrow.

During this time her brother had formed alliances with other worlds in the Vegan system to stand up the reign of terror of the Citadel and their Gordanian servants. He used Blackfire's knowledge of Citadel and Gordanian strategies and battle tactics to formulate a plan of attack, then with his Omega Man connections launched a surprise attack against the Citadel. The war against the Citadel was successful, but it upset the order of the Vegan worlds, which in turn brought on the ire of the Psions.

The Psions did not like that the power structure of their star system sized laboratory had changed and proceeded to attack Tamaran. The attacks were vicious and though the Tamaranian war fleet fought bravely, it was no match to the superior technology the Psions. Eventually the Psion fleet surrounded Tamaran and used a singularity device to start a cascading chain reaction in the core of the planet causing it to implode. Many Tamaranians lost their lives with the survivors what was left of the Tamaranian war fleet. Of those lost was Ryand'r and the burden of rule fell to both Blackfire and Starfire.

The survivors regrouped and intended to make a new home on a continent of the planet Karna, which was also inhabited by and agricultural and peaceful tribe of the Gordanians. The desperate Tamaranians planned to attack this particular tribe of Gordanians, but Starfire objected. She stated that these Gordanians did not have the capacity for war and only wanted to live in peace, but her sister and husband overruled her on the premise that all Gordanians were natural enemies of the Tamaranian people. They both ordered a devastating attack on the main Gordanian city and outlying settlements. Starfire looked on in horror as her people became that which they despised, merciless conquerors, and tried to warn the Gordanians.

Unfortunately her husband, General Ph'yzzon caught her in her attempt to warn the Gordanians and had her arrested and brought before her sister Queen Komand'r. Starfire pleaded her case not only as a co-reigning Queen, but on Tamaranian tradition. Komand'r stated that old traditions no longer applied and that their people needed a home to live and the Gordanians would always be an enemy to the people. Komand'r then asked the High Counsel to rule in Starfire's case which her husband was the head of. The decision was 11 to 1 in favor of banishment into exile, the only member being the current head of the House of Ras, the family of her first husband.

With that, Starfire was branded a traitor and stripped of her titles, given a small shuttle and told to leave the Vegan system forever. If she returned she was to be executed on sight. Starfire left her people distraught at what had befallen her. She left the Vega star system and wondered the vicinity for some time, not knowing what to do, and was nearly captured by a Psion science vessel. She barely escaped and it was then she decided her only recourse was to return to Earth.

She was quietly sobbing when Jason came back downstairs. He watched for a moment, not sure what to do. He felt sorry for her, and maybe one day she'd tell him what happened, but he'd give her time. No need to pressure her now. After a few moments he coughed like he was clearing his throat. Starfire froze for a moment then wiped her eyes with her hands and used a napkin to dry up her nose. Then she slowly turned with a hard look on her face that turned to questioning look as she tilted her head.

Jason was now wearing a black leather jacket, gray pants, biker boots and a darker gray Kevlar shirt with a bat logo emblazoned on it. He also had on leather gloves and was carrying a red helmet that had a red face mask. Jason noticed her look and smiled at her.

"Starfire, meet the Red Hood. I need to leave now, will you be ok?"

She nodded her head to say yes.

"Ok, well here's a cell phone for you to use in case you absolutely need to call me or I need to call you. I should be gone only a couple of hours, but if not, stay until I contact you. If I don't contact you in 24 hours, head to this address…" he handed her a card with an address on in that was in California.

"Head there as fast as you can and follow the directions you'll find when you enter the code printed on the bottom right of the card into the small key pad by the door, got it."

"Yes I believe so," She said looking at the card.

"Good. Listen that's only a failsafe for you in the rare possibility something happens to me, but don't worry ok. It's part of the life I live and you'll get used to it if you stay around long enough. Well I need to go now. Sit tight ok?"

"Yes I will do that. I believe I shall take the nap, while you are out, I am quite tired at the moment."

"Alright, see ya later Kori," Jason said as he headed down to the basement where the access to a hidden bunker was.

Starfire watched him leave, then picked up a pillow and hugged it to her chest. She was happy to be safe, but she still was unsure of her status here. She also hoped the others would not find her; she had no desire to see them again and the pain that would come with it.

She readjusted herself on the couch so she could lie on it with her head hanging off the seats edge, her legs dangling over the back. Once she was comfortable, she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

* * *

**In my head canon Red X is Jason Todd. I always thought Red X was the Teen Titans cartoon version of the Red Hood and so, it made sense to me to make Jason Red X. I also think Batman would have put Jason up to stealing the suit to get the technical specs of it, but Jason couldn't help but taunt Dick with having it and doing some flirting with Starfire.**

**The story of Starfire's return to Tamaran has a few comic lore cameos in it and I took some liberty with them, loosely adapting Starfire's comic story when she left Earth after her failed wedding to Dick Grayson. Quite a bit of backstory there, but I want you all to get an idea of the emotional trauma Starfire has been through since leaving Earth and the reason for her being colder now.**


	4. Connections

**Chapter 4**

**Connections**

He was exhausted; the night was rife with criminal activity as if all the gangs and criminals in Bludhaven decided to have a convention. He attributed it to the unusually warm weather and the new moon. After several hours of patrol, taking down criminals and a major bust of Blockbuster's gang working an arms deal with a nefarious international gang of arms dealers he was ready to call it a night. He had to go in early tomorrow and even he needed to sleep sometimes. He unbuckled his belt and pulled off his boots and gloves to feel more comfortable, then took some naproxen to help with the aches he currently had and the ones that were surely to come. He then plopped down on the sofa to watch some TV to unwind.

At first he flipped numbly through the channels since not much was on other than the usual drivel of fake 'reality' shows, home improvement, cooking, 'survival' shows, etc. Even the sports channels had nothing on but talking heads, so he ended up on one of the news channels and stared blankly at the screen at the talking heads babbling on about the latest problems with the economy and politics. He put the remote down and gently rubbed his temples to help himself relax. His eyes were getting heavy and he was about to dose off when an urgent news flash was announced, rousing him to attention.

"Reports are coming in from Bialya, Borastan and other nations on the border with Qurac, that an entire Quracki armored battalion was destroyed near the borders with Bialya and Borastan by some type of unknown weapon. Both Bialya and Borastan have denied any involvement, but are mobilizing there forces along their borders with Qurac in case tensions escalate further. The Quracki ambassador to the United States had no comment and the ambassador the UN has stated that there was no word from the Quracki government and he is unaware of any such incident. The White House Press Secretary stated they are looking into the incident, but have little information at this time. So far there has been no word from the Government of Qurac itself and all transmissions out of Qurac are suspiciously silent and attempts to contact our bureau in Qurabad have not been successful."

Nightwing stared at the screen, wondering what was going now, though it would be a problem handled by the Justice League International and not really his problem. His instinct told him that the "weapon" was more than likely a meta-human or possibly alien being that was either attacked or was up to no good. No telling though since the incident happened in Qurac, and if it is an embarrassment to the regime, there was no way that they would tell the truth. The news anchor was in a discussion with a so-called Central-Asian expert who was postulating about the incident when another anchor announced more information was coming in from Borastan.

"… our field correspondent Alexis Damhanpour is at the Qurac-Borastan border with a spokesman for the Borastani Army with more information. Alexis can you tell us what you know about this incident?"

The screen was split with the anchor on the left and Alexis Damhanpour on the right, behind her was a vista of rocky dessert hills and large amounts of black heavy smoke rising from behind a ridge. Next to her was a large brown skinned man in an olive colored battle dress uniform and red beret of the Borastani Special Mountain Brigade with a major's rank insignia on his uniform.

"Yes Mike I am here with Major Raamjavi, Commander of a border observation post and he has been authorized to share with us information he has concerning the incident that happened just 15 kilometers from here on the other side or the border with Qurac." The correspondent said then turned to the Borastani officer.

"Major Raamjavi, what information can you give us concerning the area where the smoke is coming from to the north of us right now?"

Major Raamjavi slightly bowed his head and began to speak. "Well Ms. Damhanpour as you can see there is much smoke coming from behind that ridge. Approximately two hours ago we observed several large explosions and what looked like bright blasts of energy coming from above the area of the explosions. I ordered a surveillance drone launched to gather information. For all we knew it might have been an attack by Qurac at the border crossing 10 kilometers north east of here or an attack by Bialyan forces, as you know the border crossing in question is a three-way crossing between Borastan, Bialya and Qurac."

The correspondent nodded her head, a look of journalistic concern on her face. "And did the drone see anything Major?"

"Yes, but we're not sure what it was we saw, but my government in the interest of peace and openness to our allies has authorized me to show you the video we recorded."

"Thank you major, Mike, we have the video loaded. I have seen the video myself, but in some places it is hard to make out what is going on."

The screen changed to that of the recorded video, which started right before it cleared the ridge. Right away, fiery explosions from fully armed tanks could be seen and other tanks and armored vehicles scrambling to evade whatever was attacking them. There was a clear shot of a tank maneuvering towards a hillock of rocks and it was firing at something when a bright blast of green energy hit the tank full on causing it to explode, leaving a twisted pile of melted metal, its tracks busted and smoke pouring from where the turret used to be. The drone turned toward the direction from where the blasts came from and in the smoke, dust and haze Nightwing could make out a figure, then the drone made an evasive maneuver as a blast of green energy flew past it. This changed the view to the ground below and there was an SUV with a driver and a passenger working hard to avoid the tanks and the explosions, then view changed back to the location of the figure he'd seen earlier. As it got closer he was sure the figure was human in shape and then the figure disappeared, then static and then the screen went black.

"As you can see, the drone malfunctioned and I ordered another drone prepared. By the time we launched it though, the attack must have ended, since there were no more blasts coming from the sky and all the tanks, armored vehicles and trucks were destroyed and we could see no survivors. I can assure you though, Borastan has no such weapon in its arsenal, nor have we seen evidence of such a weapon even with the…"

The screen went blank and was replaced with the logo of the Justice League, Nightwing keyed in the combination on his remote to answer it after he quickly put his mask back on. The face of Cyborg was now on the screen.

"Nightwing, glad to see that you're available, I hope you've seen the latest news reports?"

"Was just watching them Cyborg, so are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Not only thinking, knowing. We need you to come aboard the Watchtower though immediately, you available?" Cyborg asked, knowing that Nightwing didn't have to come if he didn't want to since he was not a member of the League.

"Yes, I am, give me a minute though suit up and get the transponder." Nightwing said as he put his belt, boots and gloves back on, the dug in his junk drawer for the transponder.

"You still don't carry it around with you? Batman said you didn't, but I didn't believe him. What, you afraid we might snatch you up unexpectedly?" Cyborg asked feigning surprise.

"Yep, and you know I'm not a member of the League, so I'm not required to wear it anyway," Nightwing said as he found the quarter sized button he was looking for.

"Got it Cy, ready when you are," Nightwing said as he faced the screen.

Cyborg looked at him suspiciously then nodded his head, "Ok, we got you signal, transport commencing in five, four, three, two, one…"

Nightwing felt the familiar burning tingle of the Watchtower's transporter system breaking down his body into microbits of energy, then all around him, the world turned white. The white started to fade and he could now see the interior of the Watchtower's transporter deck. Waiting in the room for him were Cyborg, the Flash and Raven.

Once the teleportation was complete the lead lined glass panel separating him from the others slid to the side and the transporter powered down. This was enough time for him to reorient himself to his surroundings and shake off the feeling of vertigo one gets when transported. He personally hated the things and felt they affected his balance and acrobatic abilities for minutes after, but they were an effective way to get to the Watchtower. He stepped off the platform an over to the three superheroes that were waiting for him.

He greeted his former team mates then looked over at Cyborg, "So tell me is it her?"

Cyborg nodded, along with the Flash, Raven remained impassive.

"What brings you here Raven?" He asked his old teammate.

Raven answered him in her characteristic nonchalant manner, "Cyborg asked me too."

"Yeah, I asked her to Nightwing, I invited Changeling too, but he said he needed to stay at Titans Tower and keep an eye on it." Cyborg said with some sarcasm.

"Well at least he being responsible." Nightwing said with a bit of humor in his voice.

Raven turned and glared at him. "And why would he not be? He's not a kid anymore."

"Oh come on Raven, no harm done. Still gotta pick on the ol' Green Bean." Cyborg interjected to smooth things over. Ever since she Raven and Garfield Logan were married, she became very protective and defensive of him.

Nightwing put on his best charming smile for Raven, "Sorry Raven, no more picking on Changeling, we'll be good."

Raven's glare softened slightly and her only answer was a quiet "Humph."

They continued on down the hall to one of the larger conference rooms that had a full communications suite. Inside were Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman. The group of younger superheroes stepped inside and the door closed. Batman gestured for them to take a seat around the ring shaped tabled and they complied with the Flash and Cyborg taking seats with their Justice League colleagues.

Batman addressed the group; "Members of the Justice League, Raven and Nightwing, as we know approximately five weeks ago the Tamaranian princess and former Teen Titan known as Starfire returned to Earth after fourteen year absence, at which time she allegedly made contact with and joined up with the criminal Red X. Since her return we have programmed our surveillance satellites and requested access to municipal security camera feeds, along with other surveillance methods in the attempt to ascertain Starfire's whereabouts and her activities. In that time we saw nothing until today when a Quracki armored battalion was destroyed by an unknown force. After reviewing the satellite imagery, there is no doubt that the force that destroyed the armored battalion was none other than Starfire. Cyborg, please start the video."

Cyborg manipulated the controls at his position and the lights in the room dimmed and a holo-emitter in the center of the ring shaped table glowed to life. The view was a three-dimensional top down view of a hilly dessert terrain, from one direction there was a dust cloud caused by a fast moving SUV heading into a valley, from the other direction was the armored battalion positioning to intercept the vehicle. Once the SUV was in sight of the armored battalion, it continued straight at the first line of tanks instead of veering off as expected. Suddenly before the tanks could open fire though a brilliant blast of green energy hit the first line of tanks destroying them on contact. Now all could see a small, person sized object in the sky rapidly darting back and forth leaving streaks of red, purple and green and taking pot shots at the tanks and armored vehicles below causing them to scramble. The SUV below was now veering randomly to avoid debris both on the ground and flying at it from the explosion.

There were more scenes of destruction and then Nightwing could now see the Borastani drone that had taken the video shown on the news now coming into view and the flying object hurled an energy blast at the drone, barely missing it. The remote pilot was pretty good to miss that blast, but not good enough to evade the object as it rapidly flew above the drone then straight down, ripping one of the wings off at the fuselage and then firing an energy blast at it.

"Stop the video there Cyborg and zoom in on the object."

Cyborg immediately stopped the video, rewinding it a few frames back, the zoomed in on the object, which was clear now. The red flowing hair, orange tone skin, green eyes glowing bright as a star along with a green aura surrounding her body, and a barely there purple outfit, there was no mistaking who the person was they were now viewing. It was none other than Starfire, though older and more fierce than Nightwing remembered, even more so than their first meeting.

Nightwing felt all the others' eyes on him, knowing they were trying to gauge his reaction to seeing his former lover again, but also behaving in such an aggressive and criminal manner. He did his best to remain stoic, and in all reality didn't know himself what he felt. Confusion, sadness, anger, even a little joy at seeing her again, but not really knowing himself what he felt. He had to shift the focus off him and quickly before he did break though, so he addressed Cyborg.

"Cy, can you get a better focus on the SUV, I want to see who it is she's protecting," Nightwing said emotionlessly.

"Yeah, I can do that," Cyborg answered back almost too quickly and adjusted the video until he found a clear shot of the SUV and zoomed in on it.

"Whu…?" Cyborg blurted out once he had a clear view of the SUV's occupants. The driver was wearing a distinctive red full head mask and wearing a charcoal colored leather jacket, the passenger had longish red hair, was wearing a sleeveless red shirt and a baseball cap. He had a concerned and slightly scared look on his face.

Nightwing grimaced and slightly shook his head.

"Wait a minute, I thought Starfire hooked up with Red X, what is she doing with the Red Hood and surely that's not Arsenal is it?" Cyborg said sounding confused. He'd already seen that the video confirmed that Starfire was behind the destruction, but he didn't think to check who was in the SUV. He'd assumed it was Red X.

Nightwing smirked then turned to Batman and asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "Yeah Batman, why is Starfire working with Jason Todd, oh I mean Red Hood? Would you be so kind to inform the rest of us?"

Batman just glared at Nightwing, and seethed inside at him from breaking the rule that secret identity names never be used on the Watch Tower.

Nightwing's smirk grew more noticeable now. "You might as well, because if you don't I will."

Batman didn't flinch.

"Alright then, for those of you who don't know, Red Hood and Red X are one in the same. Jason Todd is both of them. I found out the day Starfire returned. Batgirl gave me access to Batman's classified databases and I was able to pull up the profiles on Red X and Red Hood and I found out then, but I kept quiet about it as I was angry more at myself than I was at Batman for knowing about it."

Nightwing then turned to Raven, "You can tell Changeling, he was right all along. Red X was Jason Todd. He saw it and I refused to believe it, but once I found out and why it all made sense."

He shifted his gaze back to Batman now. "So Batman want to tell us why Jason has the Red X suit?"

Batman's gaze didn't change, but Nightwing could sense a barely imperceptible change in his breathing, until finally a corner of his lip moved. "What is it you want me to tell them Nightwing, that I had Jason steal the suit? Yes I did, I was impressed with the technology, but I believed you would not share the design with me and I wanted to know what made it work. Very smart of you too, keeping the designs stored on a non-networked PC so I or anyone else couldn't access the plans. You didn't count on Jason though; he was the wild card in all this and was more than willing to help me commandeer the suit. I should have known better in letting him have that much power and you should have destroyed it in the first place."

The others just stared at Batman blankly, not knowing what to say. There was an uncomfortable silence in the room now that that they all knew who Red X was. They all looked around the room as Batman continued to glare at all of them. Finally, Nightwing broke the silence.

"Now that we have that little tidbit of information out of the way, it is clear that Starfire is in league with a criminal and as far as I'm concerned a murderer. It doesn't matter that she was protecting Red Hood and Arsenal; she has the training to do so without such wanton destruction. Instead she chose to destroy those tanks and the men inside them; clearly no human could survive what Starfire unleashed on them…"

At that moment Wonder Woman stood up and spoke up with a firm and commanding voice, "Nightwing, as a warrior I understand Starfire's actions. The men in those tanks were a military threat and as soldiers naturally put themselves at risk of death; it is not like she was attacking defenseless civilians. I understand your and Batman's code of justice, and as part of the Justice League I adhere to it as much as I can, but there are times when a warrior must be a warrior. Let me find her and speak with her, and remind her of the importance of restraint. You and Batman can deal with Red Hood and Arsenal. You might want to bring in Green Arrow on this too…"

Batman stood up and interrupted Wonder Woman, one of the few men brave or foolish enough to do so. "No Wonder Woman, Starfire must be brought to justice, her actions are criminal and it is the duty of the Justice League to deal with her, per our agreement with the nations of the Earth. As Nightwing said, she could have just as easily disabled those tanks without harming the men inside, she has the training and the power to do so. We will need you, Superman, Captain Atom and Power Girl to bring her in. I'd also like the Titans involvement in this Raven, I need you to contact Troia. I understand they were good friends during her Wonder Girl days. She will not go down easy, but we need to stop her soon before she hurts unarmed civilians, any questions?"

Wonder Woman looked hard at Batman, she didn't like to be interrupted, especially by a mortal man, but she deferred to Batman for now. She would have words with him later after the meeting. For now she sat back down and glared at him, if Batman noticed he gave her no indication though. She didn't expect him to though, even if she wanted him too. The man hardly ever flinched, this being just one of the things that intrigued her about him.

Batman then turned to Nightwing, "I want you to take the lead on this – you probably know her better than anybody…"

Nightwing raised his hand to stop Batman, "No, I'm not a member of the Justice League or the Titans, and I don't take orders. Besides it's been fourteen years, she's different now and when she left, she and I weren't exactly on good terms."

"You're telling us that you don't care if Starfire is brought to justice or not?" Batman asked with a slight growl.

"I didn't say that, I said no to taking the lead on this, let Cyborg or Raven do it and I'll advise and provide assistance as necessary. As long as she stays out of Bludhaven, I have no intentions of running after her, but I will help and provide any intelligence if asked." Nightwing said without a flinch, and returning Batman's glare.

Raven spoke up, "Can you two take your dick-measuring contest somewhere else. Since she is an alien, without the proper oversight and clearances by the Justice League, may I suggest one of the Green Lanterns coordinate this. It is more of their jurisdiction anyway."

Batman turned toward Raven, and slightly nodded his head. "Not my first choice, but you're right Raven. Speaking of which, I took the liberty of having our Green Lanterns establish a connection with the Tamaranian government to find out if they knew why Starfire returned to Earth. In the process they found out that the planet known as Tamaran no longer exists, that it was destroyed by a race known as the Psions. They did so because Tamaran and their allies defeated the Citadel which the Psions used to control the population of the worlds of the Vegan star system. Apparently the Psions consider the Vegan system to be their private laboratory and they have some type of treaty or agreement with the Guardians of the Universe that keeps them to them to the Vegan System. At first they thought Starfire was a survivor, but that was not the case, instead there is a fully functional Tamaranian government with a population now located on the Vegan world of Karna. It took some work and negotiations with the Guardians and the Lanterns to establish a communications link, but we have done so. It seems that Princess Starfire was involved in criminal activities there as well."

Batman pressed a button on the table and an image of the Green Lantern, John Stewart appeared in the holo-display.

"Yes Batman?"

"John, is it possible to contact the Tamaranian government at this time? "

"Yes it is. We have a continuous live link with the High Council. Do you wish me to contact them?"

"Yes, please contact them and pipe the link here."

"Alright, give me a minute," the Green Lantern said, the faded to the Justice League symbol. A moment later he returned.

"Batman, I have the Grand Ruler on the link who after speaking with you all, has requested to speak with Nightwing alone."

Batman looked over to Nightwing. "Are you ok with this?"

"I'm ok with it." Nightwing said with a clenched jaw, dreading the upcoming conversation with the Grand Ruler.

Batman nodded, the turned back to the Green Lantern. "Alright then, open link to this room."

The Green Lantern obliged and his face faded away to that of an attractive and regal face of a Tamaranian female, but instead of Starfire's red hair and green eyes, the female had blue-black hair and violet eyes and she had a sly look about her. There was a barely audible gasp from Raven, Cyborg looked puzzled and Nightwing's mouth opened slightly in astonishment as he looked at the face of Blackfire staring back at from the holo-display. She looked at Nightwing with a sense of smug satisfaction, then winked at him.

"My, my, haven't you grown up Robin, oh I apologize, I mean Nightwing. Not too bad for a human, not bad at all, I like the new outfit too. It's too bad I can't see those blue eyes my baby sister raved about, but no matter, it is delightful to see you again." She then looked around the room, and acknowledged the others.

Nightwing watched her, and inside he was seething. Even though he was hurt and angry at Starfire's recent actions, the sight of Blackfire as the Grand Ruler made him think that maybe Starfire had a reason to act the way she was. Things definitely were not as they seemed and now he wanted, no needed to know what was going on with Starfire. It seems like she was back in his life whether he wanted it or not.

* * *

_**Need to end the chapter here before it gets too long. It is also where I will diverge from the canon of Red Hood and the Outlaws and only use it for a jumping off point for this story. **_

_**The idea of having Batman use Robin II, Jason Todd, to steal the suit just makes sense to me. He'd have the access codes to the Titans Tower (whether Dick Grayson gave them to him or not, he's Batman). I can see Robin I securing the design and not giving Batman any data on it, especially since the suit was designed shortly after he left Batman to start on his own. There would still be some hard feelings and it would take a while for Batman to train a new Robin anyway. **_

_**I hope to get the next chapter published sooner than I did this one and it will have more Starfire in it.**_


	5. Running

_**The characters belong to DC and Time-Warner, and I in no way own them or plan to make money off of them, but the story belongs to me. **_

_**The first half of the chapter is the last reference to the set up in Red Hood and the Outlaws. From here on out it is original.**_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Running**

The warm Caribbean water lapped around her waist, as the breeze blew through her hair. She marveled at the various shades of blue and green. She had forgotten the beauty Earth's nature had to offer. She enjoyed hearing the sound of the surf crashing on the shore, the salty smell of the air, and the peace and tranquility she felt at the moment.

A couple of weeks had passed since there daring rescue of Roy Harper, who she remembered as Speedy, but now went by the identity of Arsenal. She found out that he had a falling out with his mentor during the time after she had left Earth and was now a freelance vigilante for hire. He and Jason sometimes worked together on various assignments for clients, but like Jason he worked alone on many missions too. Now they were together at one of Jason's many safe houses only this one was a beach house on a Caribbean island that catered to the wealthy in that it focused on the privacy of its clients. Jason's connections and his own wealth allowed him to retain a beach house on this island where they could lay low for now.

Jason wanted to, as he said 'stay off the radar' for a while after the rescue of Roy. Their actions had stirred a hornet's nest in the Middle East and Jason wanted to wait for things to die down a bit. He believed that her destruction of the armored brigade drew too much attention, especially from the Justice League. After the rescue he thanked her for her help, but he assumed she would only disable the tanks, not destroy them and their crew. She had relied on her Tamaranian nature when she destroyed the tanks and did what she thought was right as a warrior. Even though the government of Qurac had no idea what destroyed their tanks, Jason was sure the Justice League was aware would be looking out for her, Roy and him either as Red X or Red Hood.

The last two weeks had been interesting though to say the least. She had to smile at Roy's attempts to flirt with her, even after 14 years he really had not changed much. Sure he was older and more mature looking, but still thought of himself as a ladies man. Jason was different though – yes he flirted with her, but his was more playful, like she remembered Wally West and his flirting, but he was respectable. Roy on the other hand was more blatant about his intentions. Even now as she was in the water she could feel Roy ogling her behind his sunglasses.

She headed back to the beach, feeling thirsty and a bit hungry too. She was careful not to fly or float up to the beach, in case anyone noticed so she walked slowly instead. She could still sense Roy ogling her, so she looked right at him letting her eyes glow enough for him to see. She got the desired reaction from this as Roy quickly turned away and in doing so dropped his freshly poured pina colada all over his lap. She smiled a little and strolled over to him and she could see that Jason was snickering at Roy's accident.

"Oh no Roy, did you drop your drink?" Starfire asked innocently as sauntered up to where the two young men were sitting.

Roy looked away from her, trying to hide his embarrassment, "Bug flew in my ear, and startled me. Now I have to change."

"No you don't, just jump in the water, it'll wash off." Jason suggested with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Yeah, sure… I'd do just that," Roy said as he got up and ran into the surf.

"Hey gorgeous, saw what you did there, caught him perving huh?"

Starfire smiled knowingly at Jason. "Roy was quite the obvious with his perving as you call it, though I had no intention to cause him to spill his drink."

"Yeah, Roy's not exactly subtle is he?"

"No, he is not, even when he is wearing sunglasses and hiding behind a magazine." Starfire said as she set up a lounge chair next to Jason.

"Will we be staying on the island much longer Jason?" Starfire asked once she was settled and comfortable.

"Not much longer, but you will need to leave today as in within the next hour." Jason said matter of fact.

Starfire was taken aback at the tone in Jason's voice. It reminded her of Dick Grayson's, all business, when he was giving orders. She remembered though that both were trained by Batman, so it made sense it in an odd sort of way.

"Why?" She asked tentatively.

"Because they are coming for you," Jason said staring out at the ocean.

Starfire jerked her head towards Jason, "Who's coming for me?"

"The Justice League is that's who. I received word a few minutes ago from a very reliable and trusted source they are planning a raid of the island. My source tells me Superman, Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Martian Manhunter, Captain Atom, and Batman are coming and maybe a few others." He stopped and turned towards Starfire, his face showing concern.

"You're powerful Starfire, but they're sending in the big guns, show's they've got respect for you though. I need you out of here though before they get here, Roy and I can blend in with the population and make our get away. You on the other hand are a bit harder to hide."

Starfire was beginning to feel distraught and betrayed and she narrowed her eyes at Jason. "You told them I was here. You contacted Batman."

Jason shook his head and smiled gently at her, "No Kori, I didn't, nor would I. That's not how I roll. I need you to get away quickly to a safe location known only to a few. After you've packed only what you need, go to the small shed behind the cabin. Once inside grasp the light switch case and turn it counter clockwise one quarter turn. A panel in the floor will open leading to a set of spiral stairs. Follow the stairs down to a cavern where you'll find an escape sub. Get in the sub and it will automatically shoot down the tube to an escape hatch into the ocean. It will take you as far as Miami. Once there it will automatically go to a particular wharf where there is an internal dock, you will meet the contact there. They will take you by car to the secure location. It's deep in the Appalachian mountains in eastern Kentucky and part of an abandoned coal mine. I will meet you there as soon as I can. Any questions?"

Starfire listened, but she was still suspicious, "How do I know it is not a trap Jason? How do I know you are not using me as a decoy to lead them away from you?"

There was a hint of disappointment on Jason's face, "You don't Kori, but you have to trust me on this, you don't have much choice. Believe me I wish you did. You've got less than an hour now, so get going while you can. I'll put in the coordinates while you prep to leave, but we don't have much time."

Starfire looked away from him and out at Roy who was distracted by two attractive Eastern European girls who were staying in the compound next to theirs. She took a deep breath, then got up from the lounge chair, "Well then I shall go pack. Any advice at what I should wear. I assume this barely there bikini may not be appropriate."

Jason snickered, "No it's not, and I'd suggest jeans, T-shirt, tennis shoes sunglasses. You might want to get a jacket somewhere along the way it's supposed to rain in that part of the country the next few days. I'll give you more than enough cash, and don't use credit or debit cards. You should be there in a couple of days, if I'm not there, hang tight for a couple of days. If I don't show up in a couple of days, my contact will relocate you if we need too, Ok?

Starfire nodded her head, but she still felt like she was being discarded. Jason noticed and smiled at her gently and he reached out and took her hand.

"Listen Kori, I'm your friend, I'll make sure your safe. Right now though we need to split up, and by the way, Roy and I are the decoy ok, not you. Now go on and get packed so you can get out of here."

Starfire looked down at the hand Jason was holding, his hand felt warm and strong in hers. She suddenly felt awkward though and drew her hand away quickly and looked away from him.

"Oh, hey I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have touched you. I meant nothing by it really. I…, uhm…, was only trying to comf…"

Starfire cut him off. "It is the ok Jason, it just took me off guard that is all. After being on Tamaran and a princess again these many years, I am not used to being casually touched by someone, not even my husband."

Jason smiled back nervously, "Sure Kori, I understand. I won't do that again."

She took his hand back. "No, do not say that, I do not mind. We are friends and that is what friends do sometimes." She said smiling brightly back at him.

"Ok, well… you better get going. I'll meet you at the shed." He turned and then whistled at Roy. "Hey Roy, get up here we've got a situation!"

She could see Roy shrugging back and then he turned to the girls to say something. She didn't wait around though, and hurried into the beach house to pack. She quickly packed her few belongings – clothing, armor and toiletries and took a quick shower and got dressed like Jason suggested. She didn't have time to wash her hair so she put it in a ponytail and took one of Roy's ball caps that had a Star City Meteors logo on it. She grabbed her bag and headed out the back door to the shed. When she got there both Jason and Roy were waiting for her.

"Hey that's my cap!" Roy protested upon seeing her.

"I am sorry, I did not think you would mind me borrowing it for a while. I will give it back to you if you wish."

Roy shook his head. "No, that's fine Kori, I can always get another one, beside how can I say no to you."

Starfire smiled and shifted nervously. "Thank you, Roy."

"No time for flirting you two. Kori, here's an envelope with the cash I promised you. I've already opened the hatch for you. We'll see you in no more than four days, but get going before it's too late."

"Thank you, Jason. Please be careful…, both of you," then she hugged Roy and Jason. She reluctantly released Jason, and felt a bit embarrassed afterwards.

"I am sorry, but I do not wish to be alone for long. You and Roy are the only friends I have right now and I do not wish to be alone again." A small tear began to form in her eye.

"Hey Kori, don't worry, the three of us will be back together soon, now get!" Jason said as he stepped back from her.

Starfire lingered only another moment then entered the shed and then quickly moved down the spiral staircase and entered the cavern Jason told her about. The sub was there as he said. She placed her bag in the storage compartment, behind the seat and then stepped in and strapped herself in. As soon as she did, the canopy closed over her and the sub came to life. The display and controls on the console lit up and she could feel the hum of the engine as it started up. On the display was a countdown indicating launch time and she could hear the sound of the sub pressurizing.

The onboard computer announced for her to "Brace for launch." So she grabbed the two handles and but her head back against the head rest. Suddenly the small sub shot forward and into a tube, for what seemed like miles. Unknown to her the cavern, automatically caved in once the sub was at a safe distance and filled with water.

At a point the tube began to fill with water, and in turn slowing down the momentum of the sub. Eventually the tube was filled with water and shortly after the sub exited into the open ocean. Starfire noted it was traveling at 52 knots and at a depth of 100 meters with an estimated time of arrival in Miami being 97 minutes. At least she would have some time to relax and think since the sub was doing all the work.

She still did not like sneaking off like this; it made her feel like a thief or a criminal. Then again she had joined herself to a thief and criminal, so she really could not act as if her running away was improper. Part of her still felt like this might all be a trap, but she trusted Jason, did not believe he would attempt to fool her in anyway.

She looked around, but at this depth she could see much, the light from the sun did not penetrate much past 50 meters and most of the ocean's was in that zone, though she did see some schools of fish here and there and she did catch a glimpse of a whale. At one time, Tamaran's seas were teaming with life, which was a staple of food for her people, but the Citadel's many attacks destroyed much of that life, though that life was replenishing itself, Tamaran was no more. She wept for her world, now gone and for the people on the world they were trying to claim. Neither of which, she would ever see again.

As the sub continued on its course, she thought of Jason and Roy and the friendship she began with them over the few weeks she had been back on Earth. Though Jason was secretive like Dick Grayson at times, he was actually more open and friendly. He would strike up conversations with her and listen to what she had to say. She thought about him taking her hand today too and how it made her feel. She admitted to herself there was some attraction to Jason, though she had no intention in pursuing anything more than friendship. No, she had no plans of getting involved romantically with a human again, too much intrigue and subterfuge with humans for her to like or understand. Besides that, he reminded her too much of Dick Grayson, and she wanted no part of that.

With that in mind, she spent the remaining time before she arrived at the wharf in Miami on her battle meditation techniques. It was one way to clear her mind of any feelings she was having at the moment. She was deep in meditation when the alarm sounded, startling her to attention.

"Arrival at destination in five minutes," came over the speakers.

Starfire looked around and noticed that the water was much shallower and they were now only 30 meters below the surface. Here the ocean was full of life and she could make out the wakes of ships overhead. The sub was travelling much slower too, only 10 knots, so the must be close.

"One minute." The speakers announced and she could see the poles of piers all around her.

The sub was slowing to a crawl now and it was now darker in the water around her. The sub then came to a stop and slowly ascended to the surface and she could see she was now in a building and there was a lone figure dressed in black waiting on the port side while the sub slid into a slot where the figure was waiting.

Once the sub came to a stop and magnetically attached itself to the dock the canopy opened and the figure stepped out into the light and gracefully reached a hand with fingers tipped with razor sharp metal claws. Starfire tentatively reached out to the hand which took hers gently.

"Welcome back to Earth Starfire, I've seen you've grown into a perfectly beautiful young woman." The figure said with a purr.

"Catwoman, you are the contact?" Starfire asked, a quizzical look on her face.

"The one and only my dear and we've got to get you out of here pronto. It won't take long for Bats to figure out what happened and they will be on the lookout for you."

"Certainly, let me grab my bag so we can be on our way." Starfire reached behind the seat to grab her bag.

"Hurry…"

Starfire did as she was asked, then followed Catwoman to an office area of the building. She heard a noise behind her and the submarine was disappearing into the water.

"No evidence Starfire, the sub will go back out to sea then a disintegration device will reduce it to molecules when it's at a safe distance." Catwoman said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, that makes sense," Starfire said under her breath.

Catwoman entered and office and Starfire followed her.

"Take a seat, I'm going to quickly change and then were out of here."

"Ok," Starfire said and sat down in large leather swivel chair behind an expensive looking cherry desk. A few moments later, Catwoman, now Selena Kyle stepped out of the room she went into earlier to change. She too was also in a T-shirt and jeans, but no ball cap.

"You ready Kori? We have a long drive ahead of us."

"As ready as I will ever be Selena," Starfire said as she got up to follow Selena out to an interior garage where she directed her to a blue SUV.

"Not really my style, I prefer sports cars and limousines, but we'll need it where we're going deary." Selena said as he entered the SUV.

Starfire got in, and strapped herself in and Selena started the engine and put it into gear, then drove to the opening garage door and out of the port and eventually onto to I-95 North. Starfire sat silently in the SUV and looked out of the window at the Miami skyline and out to the ocean. Somewhere out there were Jason and Roy. She hoped that they were safe and she would see them soon. She also knew that the Justice League was looking for her and may at this moment be very well on her trail. She half expected to see Superman show up out of nowhere or one of the Lanterns or maybe even Wonder Woman.

How had she come so low, to where she was exiled from her world, on a world she hoped she never would see again, and now a fugitive of justice and running like the criminals she used to chase? What was to become of her now, and could she remain in hiding and on the run forever. She thought of turning herself in, but what good would that do her? No she'd wait for Jason, then decide what to do.

As they continued to head north into Broward County, her mind wondered to Dick Grayson and what he was doing. Was he looking for her too along with the Justice League, surely he was a member by now. Did he still think of her, did he miss her? Probably not, she was sure he found love with someone else by now and what did it matter to her anyway. That human was no longer part of her life.

She was thankful that Selena left her alone for the moment. Maybe Selena knew that Starfire needed to think and have some quiet time. Selena had been on the run many times and Starfire was sure she understood what she was currently going through. So with that Starfire reclined her seat back some and closed her eyes to rest, letting the sound and rhythm of the road lull her to sleep.

* * *

**I hope none of you expected a Starfire/Roy Harper sex seen like in Red Hood and the Outlaws #1. I am not about to go there and I think it was atrocious for Scott Lobdell to even write that seen to begin with. No, this version of Starfire is weary of romance and emotions leading to it for the time being, and like I said in an earlier chapter, I don't intend any romance in this story, but I may hint at it here and there. **

**Starfire's on the run now and may be for some time, and a confrontation is coming and the Titans will be crucial to it, including Nightwing. So stay tuned for more.**


	6. Twisty Roads

_**The characters belong to DC and Time-Warner, and I in no way own them or plan to make money off of them, but the story belongs to me. **_

_**Sorry that it has been so long since I published last chapter, but I had a lot of things happen in my life and didn't have time to write any fiction, fan or otherwise.**_

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Twisty Roads**

"_I love you Richard John Grayson, but this… This is beyond forgivable. You have betrayed me, my love… Us!" _

"_But Kory… I uh… I can explain…" Dick Grayson said as he sat up to face her and held up his left hand defensively._

_She could see the shock and confusion in his eyes as he looked at her then behind him and back at her again. She could smell the fear on him too, along with other scents that were repulsive to her at the moment. She also felt the energy surge through her as the anger welled up inside her like the energy of an impending super nova._

"_No need to explain Dick! I can see most clearly what is happening here. How could you Dick? How could you on the day before our wedding? You are worse that a glempork! "_

"_Kory, honey…, listen… I… uh… I…"_

"_ENOUGH!" She said, her voice roaring, causing Dick Grayson to cower back and bumping into the girl lying on the bed waking her up._

"_The wedding is off Richard John Grayson! You are no longer fit to be my mate, If we were on Tameran, I would be within my rights to kill you and the _s'lorn'fa _in your bed and hang your skins as a trophy!_

_She could see his demeanor change from shock, to panic, then desperation. _

"_Kory…, Starfire… Let me explain, I…"_

"_NO! What I have seen is enough. The wedding is off Dick Grayson, and you will not see me ever again!" _

_She turned to storm out of Dick Grayson's room, when she felt his hand grab her wrist. _

"_Star wait! Let me ex…"_

_It was too much, she could control her fury no longer and whipped around faster than he could react and let lose a star bolt squarely into his chest, sending him flying across the room. She could see the smoke rising from his limp form and now she started to panic, believing she had killed the man she loved in her righteous fury. She was frozen, not sure what to do, then she was shaken from her panic by the blood curdling scream coming from the girl that was in his bed. Starfire turned to flee, and blasted the door open, but the opening was blocked by the dark form of the Batman. The screams grew louder and she moved to fly out a window, but they were gone, replaced by dark metal shutters. Her only hope now was through the ceiling and she flew up, but felt a chord wrap around her ankles, pulling back down. _

_The smell of burnt flesh was overpowering her now and the screams were drilling into her brain. She began to lose control of her emotions and abilities and began to panic, feeling like she was being pulled under a sea of screams and long forgotten terrors. She struggled and she could see the others, her _friends, _the Titans glaring up at her now as if she were some kind of freak. She struggled harder, but the Batman almost had her in his grasp, she could see Cyborg's sonic cannon aimed at her the white glow of Raven's eyes. _

_She was overcome now and she struggled harder. She looked again and she no longer saw the Batman, the Titans, the screaming girl or the smoldering body of Dick Grayson. Instead she saw the leering grimaces of her Gordanian captors and her Citadellian masters. The panic was overwhelming, she couldn't hold it anymore, and the scream burst from her throat like water burst dam. _

"_NOOO….!"_

Starfire jumped up from the seat, screaming at the top of her lungs. The only thing keeping her from bumping head on the roof was the seatbelt holding her firmly to the seat.

The scream caused the woman driving to startle and nearly run the SUV off the road. She got the vehicle under control again and then pulled over on the shoulder to calm down herself and then turned and glared at Starfire, but softened her look upon seeing the look of embarrassment on Starfire's face.

"You OK Kory?" Selena asked her gently.

"Just a bad dream Selena, I offer apologies…" Starfire answered quietly, like a scolded child.

"Don't worry about dear; I've had bad dreams too. Is it ok to ask what it was about? Talking about 'em…"

"No Selena, I would rather not, it is rather personal and a memory I prefer not to have." Starfire said cutting Selena off.

"Sure, no problem, I understand. We'll just head continue on. We'll be getting off the Interstate soon and from their some rather twisty back roads. I hope you don't get car sick." Selena said with a knowing smile and eased back on the I-81 just East of Knoxville.

Starfire settled back into the seat and looked out of the window as she watched the scenery go by. In all her time on Earth she never recalled visiting this part of the country. All of her time had mostly been spent on the West Coast in Jump City and the Monterey Bay and San Francisco area. Of course she had been to Gotham and New York City as well as Washington DC and other parts of the world when the Teen Titans were fighting the Brotherhood of Evil and then there was Tokyo.

She quickly tried to change her thoughts and focused on the scenery again, keeping her eyes on the hazy blue Smokey Mountains in the distance. Tried as she might though the dream and now the thought of Tokyo kept bringing him to her memories again. She tried to focus her breathing now, silently reciting the _q'Fak'na_ or Warriors Chant, but it wasn't helping, Dick Grayson's memory kept trying to surface. She even tried reciting Raven's mantra, but it too was not helping. Finally she let out an exasperated sigh.

Selena glanced over, raising on eyebrow with feline like curiosity. "Care to share?"

Starfire crossed her arms, in an attempt shut Selena out, but it was no use. Perhaps Selena was right and maybe she should talk some about her dream, just to get it off her chest.

"Not really, but if it will help to clear my head from these bad memories, then yes I will share."

"Ok then, go on, what was so bad to cause you to scream out?" Selena said, prodding her.

Starfire stared ahead a moment trying figure out what to say. The she cough some to clear her throat, and leaned her head back on the head rest.

"I dreamt of my last day on Earth, before I left and returned home to Tamaran."

Selena raised both eyebrows now, "Oh do you have this dream often?"

"No, not for twelve Earth years now and this is the first time I've had it since returning here."

"Oh, I see. So what happened?" Selena asked though she fully knew what happened that day.

Starfire glared at Selena from the corner of her eyes, then she raised her eyebrows. "You mean to tell me you do not know? I would think with your relationship with Bruce Wayne that you would know."

Selena laughed out loud, and shook her head. "Honey, my relationship with Bruce is a lot less than you may think; that man never sticks to one girl, which is fine by me. Though he has been cozying up to that Amazon here lately and I think he's half afraid of her, doesn't play the billionaire playboy much anymore with her around. It's not to say though I don't know what happened, but let's just say I'm not as privy to the Wayne family secrets as I once was."

Starfire tilted her head in thought and crossed her hands on her lap. "Oh, I see. I thought maybe…"

"Listen Kory, Alfred, Red and Dick told me some things, but Bruce never did."

Starfire perked up a bit. "When you say Red you mean Jason right and what did Dick tell you?"

Selena smiled at her, "Yes Red is Jason, it's been my nickname for him since I found out he stole the Red-X suit. I think it's ironic that Dick never knew it was Jason until recently, he never figured it out, even with the clues right in front of him. Now that Jason's the Red Hood it still fits. And yes, Dick told me some things too."

Starfire turned to Selena, a sudden alertness about her. "What did Dick say?"

"Well, what I can tell you Kory is that Dick was bummed out for some time after you left. He quit the Titans, left Wayne Manor to strike out on his own and became a cop in Bloodhaven. It was couple of years before he donned the Nightwing suit again. He also regretted breaking your heart and betraying you. He said it was the worst thing, no, the most vile thing he's ever done."

Starfire narrowed her eyes. "Then why did he betray me then, if he knew it was so vile?"

"You'll have to ask Dick that yourself hon, he didn't tell me why and I never got all the details, other than he blames Bruce somehow."

Starfire breathed out heavily, part of her wanted to know, but she could never just go up to him and ask why. Her warrior's pride would never allow her to that.

"Here's our exit." Selena said as she got off of I-81 to take US-27 north into Virginia. They rode in silence for a while now. The view was beautiful though with the Blue Ridge Mountains to the East. After a while the road began to twist and turn more as they headed into the Appalachians and into Eastern Kentucky. Here the mountains were right upon the road the buildings took up what little space they could. She was lost in the scenery when she heard Selena asked her a question.

"What?" Starfire asked her.

"I said, you still love him don't you?" Selena said nonchalantly.

Starfire's head snapped at Selena, her eyes narrowed and glowing at her, "How dare you ask me that?"

Selena only shook her head with a hint of a smile on her face. "Yep, you still love him."

Starfire was taken aback, how dare this human tell her who she loved or not, and in such a cavalier manner too. She was about to admonish Selena, then she realized that Selena was trying to get a reaction out of her. She let herself relax, but was irritated at Selena's trick.

"Why do you say that Selena, what makes you think that I still love Dick Grayson?"

Selena's smile grew wider. "Your reaction when I said his name and you wanting to know what he said to me after you left. You reacted like a love sick girl."

"I most certainly did not!" Starfire said indignantly.

"Oh yes you did and your reaction now proves my point even further."

Starfire scrunched face and waved off Selena, "I will have you know Ms. Kyle that since I left Earth I have had two husbands, one a prince and the other a general and I have loved them both."

"Oh really, what happened to them?" Selena said baiting Starfire.

Starfire held up her head, looking down her nose at Selena. "My first husband Prince Kar'ras died honorably in battle and my second husband, General Ph'yzzon, well he's still my husband, technically…" Starfire said deflating, the wind now falling from her sails so to speak.

"Will this General Ph'yzzon come after you then to take you home?"

Starfire now held her lower now looking at her lap. "No, it was he who demanded I be banished. He more than likely has had our marriage annulled and will marry my sister to have the throne." She looked out of the window again. "I do not wish to talk about it anymore please."

"You never answered my question though girl, do you still love Dick Grayson don't you?"

"Why does it matter to you Selena, whether I love him or not?" Starfire said, still looking at rock wall of the mountain outside her window.

"Because you need to be honest with yourself Kory, that's why. Since we've been on this little road trip, I've heard you talk in your sleep for the last two days, both here in the truck and in the hotel we stayed at in Macon, Georgia. Every time you do, you mention Dick Grayson or call out to him. Is that why you really came back to Earth Kory, but just can't admit to yourself, surely you didn't come all this way to find Red X?"

"Well no…, I had no other place to go. I turned to Red X because I could not do the facing of Dick Grayson again. I hoped Red X would help me establish a place on Earth as he knew how to hide from those he did not want to do the finding of him. How was I to know he was the adopted brother of Dick Grayson?" Starfire said the emotions welling up inside her, causing her English to revert to the way it was when she was a Teen Titan.

"Jason is good at that, I'll give him that much. Not a bad guy really, just is more concerned about himself and what he thinks is right than what is right. Kind of like me when you think about it."

Starfire giggled a bit at that. "Yes, he can be that way now that you mention it."

"So you still haven't answered my question Kory, do you still love Dick Grayson?"

"Selena, I do not think..." Starfire paused.

"Well, I'm not going to pressure you about it, but you need to think about it or you'll never know what you really want."

The vehicle came to a stop near a boarded up entrance to what could only be an old coal mine. Selena put the SUV in Park and turned it off.

"Ok were here." She said as she opened door.

Starfire opened the door slowly and exited the vehicle as she took in her surroundings. They were half way up the side of a small mountain, below them was town with a single main street that cut between the mountains on either side. She could tell the street ended where the mountains came together. She dug into her knowledge of English and remembered it was called a hollow.

"Where exactly are we Selena?"

"The place is called Wheelwright, this old coal mine was an old Brotherhood of Evil hideout and one of their many backup headquarters long before the Teen Titans ever fought them. Now it's part of an underground network used by those who don't wish to be found. C'mon, let's get inside before someone sees us."

"What about the SUV?"

"Don't worry about that," Selena said as she grabbed both their bags and tossed Starfire's to her. Then she pressed a button on the key fob and the SUV disappeared.

"Wayne Tech stealth technology, I still have some connections." She said trotting off towards the mine entrance. Starfire picked up her back and followed her, being careful to stay firmly planted on the ground to keep from arousing suspicions from any locals that may notice them in the area.

Selena put her hand against a non-descript rock and a panel slid open revealing a keypad. She promptly keyed in a code and a series of cracks appeared in the rocks then opened inward revealing a room inside. They both stepped in and the rock door closed behind them, and then the lights came on in the room revealing an elevator in the back of the room. Selena led Starfire to the elevator, pressing the call button and waited for the car to arrive.

"I hope you're not claustrophobic, it can get pretty tight down there."

"I do not think that I am."

"Good, but warning you just in case you are."

The elevator car arrived announced by a ding, then the door slid open to a pristine, polished stainless steel interior. Selena entered the car followed by Starfire. Selena pressed the down button and the door closed and the elevator dropped faster than Starfire expected.

"Yeah it does that, express elevator." Selena said with a hint of mischief in her voice.

As the elevator descended, Starfire thought about Selena's question. She was right and needed to be honest with herself and might as well give Selena an answer.

"Selena…"

"Yeah Kory."

"Yes I do still love him."

* * *

**Well now there's a turn of events for you. Hopefully I won't wait as long to publish the next chapter. **

**Later.**


	7. Matters of the Heart

_**The characters belong to DC and Time-Warner, and I in no way own them or plan to make money off of them, but the story belongs to me.**_

**Chapter 7**

**Matters of the Heart**

* * *

"_Selena…"_

"_Yeah Kori."_

"_Yes I do still love him."_

TtTtTtT

Selena stared a Kori, then a smile turning to smirk crept across her face. "Thought so…, Is that why you are avoiding him?"

Starfire sighed and looked away from Selena, turning her eyes down at the floor; "Selena, it is not what you think or understand, or for that matter what Dick Grayson understood."

Selena creased her forehead in slight confusion, shaking her head slightly, "You're right, I don't understand what you mean?

Kori smiled sadly at Selena and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Let us sit down and be comfortable and I will tell you."

Selena nodded in agreement. She set down her bag and duffle bag on a table and Kori did the same.

"Would like something to drink Kori, there is fairly well stocked wine rack or would you like something else?"

"Wine would be fine, the alcohol will help us to relax and I feel stiff at the moment from riding so long."

"Sure, any particular type of wine?" Selena asked.

"No, you do the choosing."

Selena smiled and headed into a door on the far side of the room. Kori moved over to a sitting area that had five groups of overstuffed chairs and sofas arranged in groups of four centered on a round table. The overhead lights automatically adjusted to a comfortable level as she stepped in to the sitting area. She propped herself on one of the sofas, stretching her legs out on the cushions as she leaned against one of the overstuffed arms. A few moments later Selena returned with a bottle of French Bordeaux and two wine glasses. Selena sat the glasses down and poured each a glass of wine, then took a seat on the opposite side of the sofa curling her legs underneath with feline grace.

Kori took her glass and took drink from it, relishing the flavor the Bordeaux. The wine reminded her of a Tamaranian beverage known as _Zornth'a, _which was a blended from the fermented juice of zorka berries and the herb _nanth'as. _Though Bordeaux wasn't as spicy as the _Zornth'a_ it had a similar flavor and Kori savored it as the wine rolled around her mouth and tongue before swallowing it. Fortunately the Bordeaux did not have the _nanth'as _herb blended with it as it had mild hallucinogenic properties. Kori didn't need that right now.

Kori could feel Selena staring at her in anticipation and she suddenly felt awkward, and flushed a bright peach color and looked down at her wine glass.

"Enjoying the wine Kori?" Selena asked with a purr in her voice.

"Yes it is very good, reminds me of a drink from home."

"It is one of the better vintages I found on the wine rack. I always wondered why The Brain kept wines at all his hideouts; he was just a brain after all. I guess he just liked to have it around, as a memento of his French heritage, he sure loved his wines. I think this label came from one of his vineyards. Anyway, you were going to explain to me about your love for Dick Grayson."

A melancholy smile appeared on Kori's face and she took another sip of wine. "Yes I did say that I would explain to you that did it not."

Kori cleared her throat, then took a deep breath before speaking, "Selena, it is most difficult, but I will try. You see Tamaranians are capable of loving and sharing that love with many people even to the point of sharing our bodies as an expression of love and friendship. Though we must have an emotional or spiritual connection to go as far as sharing our bodies and it is not something we do lightly. Mind you, it is not casual sex or sex without love by any means, but a physical sharing of one another's body with a good friend and it is a mutual decision. This is not the only way we love others though. We share love as friends and care for each other in ways that are less physical like in hugging or touching each other. Touch is very important to my people and is a way we display our emotions."

Selena's eyes grew at that statement. "Oh, so you mean you love Dick Grayson like a friend, but nothing more?"

Kori shook her head and smiled, "No Selena with Dick it was different, much different." A sad look crossed her face, then she sighed.

"Selena, one thing that sets humans and Tamaranians apart is how we love others, with Dick Grayson it was more than just the love of friendship, it as deeper. I loved all of the Titans; Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Bumble Bee, Speedy, Aqualad, Pantha, all of them. They were my friends and had my feelings for Dick Grayson been different, I might have even shared intimacy with them, though I understood that with humans such behavior is seen as 'slutty.' Instead though I had a special connection with Robin as he was known then and I wished to reserve intimacy only for him should our relationship proceed beyond friendship."

Kori took another sip of wine and continued. "Before I met Dick Grayson, I had been through much, groomed and raised as the Royal Princess of Tamaran, and was next in line after my brother Ry'andr. Then I became a trophy of war, becoming a slave to the Citadel, a prize for their supreme Lord to be flaunted and exploited at his whims, but I escaped from his Gordanian mercenaries and came here to Earth and Dick Grayson showed me kindness and friendship. I found him to be most handsome and valorous in his attempts to stop me from destroying Jump City and in fending off the Gordanian mercenaries that tried to apprehend me. I saw in him a great warrior and one that let no obstacle stand in his way. When he offered me to stay and be part of the team that became the Teen Titans, I was overjoyed.

Kori snickered, then let out a laugh "Oh my, when I think of it now it was funny, but his attitude and demeanor towards me was the same as one courting me for my hand in marriage, so I thought that was what he was doing at the time. I was not aware of human customs and all I had to go on were Tamaranian ones. So I truly thought he wanted me as his bride, even way back then and to be honest I wanted it to be true. I fell in love with him early on in our relationship and always wanted more, but he never moved beyond being my best friend and I became disheartened. I often wondered why he never went beyond friendship, but thought it was another human custom and I was aware that humans often waited until later to marry."

Selena tilted her head at Kori, "What do you mean about waiting until later to marry?"

"Oh, Most humans marry when they are in their twenties, sometimes later. On Tamaran, I was close to marrying age and after my Transformation I would have been married to my betrothed within days at the age of fifteen earth years. This is common on Tamaran, as a warrior society, one cannot wait too long to marry and produce children so we are married shortly after we can reproduce."

Selena had a confused look on her face, "Transformation?"

"The Tamaranian equivalent of puberty, but it lasts about an Earth week at the most. It is when a surge of hormones races through our bodies all at once turning us into young adults. Each Tamaranian's Transformation is unique though and expresses many of our recessive gene qualities left over from Psion meddling when they created our race. Anyway back to the subject."

Kori took another sip of wine, finishing off the glass and Selena poured her another.

"So, back to my story. After my Transformation, I longed for Robin to move beyond our friendship and make me his mate, but for him it was business as usual. I spent more time with him, always sat next to him when we ate, watched TV, picnics, worked out with him, studied cases with him, pretty much everything, but he never tried anything beyond a touch on the shoulder here and there. One time his hand brushed my thigh and to my disappointment he withdrew his hand as if I had shocked him. I felt sad and disappointed, maybe he did not see me as a mate, but just a friend and I did not know what to do as I did not think I would ever go back to Tamaran. I was told to remain on Earth, if I returned, the Citadel would demand my return, so I was to remain in exile and no further communications until my father felt it was safe. My father the Grand Ruler was satisfied with my status as a hero and protector of Earth and that I represented Tamaran with honor."

"Little did I know that I would be recalled to Tamaran soon to be married to my betrothed. When I received the message to return, I was both excited, yet sad too. I would miss my friends here, the only true friends I ever had outside of those chosen for me by my parents, but I could return home and see my family again. My parents, my little brother, my _k'norfka_ Galfore, and my betrothed, who I thought at the time was Prince Kar'ras of Kallapatt, Tamaran's southern continent. He was my betrothed before I left home and we were friends then and I was excited to see them. I was surprised when I told the Titans the good news and saw the look on Robin's face and again I was confused."

Selena giggled, "Is this the time you were tricked into marrying the green slime monster and fought your sister for the crown?"

Kori tilted her head then giggle too. "Why yes it was, I was so disgusted and disappointed at knowing what my sister had planned for me to marry. She planned to take Kar'ras for herself after she married me off to that thing. It was also the turning point in my relationship with Robin. It was on Tamaran that I realized just how much I meant to him and what he would go through to keep me from marrying anyone else. When I realized that, I knew I could not marry Girdlsklechhh, Kar'ras or anyone else and refused to accept the marriage and challenged my sister. I knew the only way I could go back to Earth to be with Robin was to become the Grand Ruler and then abdicate in favor of Galfore. In doing so, I gave up my royal titles and any obligations to marry Kar'ras or any other Tamaranean princeling."

Kori stopped and sighed for a moment, a tear forming in one her eyes. She wiped away the tear and continued.

"It was when I made that decision to give the crown to Galfore, I did something I had wanted to do for some time and that was to give my heart to Robin. I did not do the telling to him at first, but I would when the time was right. That time came a few months after he kissed me in Tokyo and told me he wanted to be my boyfriend. I had to wait nearly two years after returning from Tamaran before he told me. So a few months later he took me on a special date on Valentine's Day and told me he loved me, I was ecstatic, and I told him I loved him too and had for some time and told him my heart belonged to him forever. One thing you must understand Selena is that when a Tamaranian gives their heart to another, it is forever, I am no more able to take it back than you are able to will yourself to fly. So no matter what happened, Dick Grayson will always be the one who has my heart and because of that I will always love him. He has the most important part of my being and I was a fool to give it to him."

Selena stared blank-eyed at Kori, trying to process what she just heard. She understood from a human perspective how you can give your heart to someone, but as far as she was concerned it could be taken back too. A little scarred, broken and abused, but it could heal and be given away again if one wanted too. The way Starfire made it sound was like Dick Grayson actually owned a part of her very soul.

Kori could tell Selena did not quite understand and smiled empathically at her.

"Dick didn't quite understand either Selena, and I should have realized that since he is human. It was foolish of me to think that he or any other human would, but you see we are soul mates, not just physical mates. Our relationship had a spiritual connection and we were of one spirit long before we took the steps to make our feelings for each other known. This is why his betrayal was so devastating to me, it crushed my very soul and broke my heart in such a way that it could never fully heal. A part of me died that day and no other love would resurrect it."

"Kori how sad, to have such a strong emotional connection that the heart of your very soul could belong to another and have them throw it away like he did, unbelievable. I must admit, I don't fully understand, because no man will ever own me or my heart, but I can understand how you could hate and love Dick Grayson at the same time."

Kori shook her head. "Selena, I never said that I hate Dick Grayson, but the thought of him or seeing him pains me greatly and it is why I do not wish to see him. The pain would be too much. I have gone through enough in my life. I have been married twice; my first husband was Prince Kar'ras, the prince I was betrothed too shortly after I was born. I married him a year after I returned to Tamaran. I did not want to, I did not want to marry anyone, but I was the Royal Princess again and since Galfore had no heir, I had to face my royal responsibilities again. I loved Kar'ras, but he would never have my heart, and he understood as I would never have his heart either. His heart belonged to his second in command, Captain Tayria. So our marriage was one of duty, but friendship. We did try to have a child, to produce an heir, but I miscarried. Shortly afterwards Tayria became pregnant, and per tradition the child would be raised in the palace as mine if I wished, but she was killed by Kar'ras' own sister, Xyannis, who'd become a terrorist who hated her family and her people all because her lover was exiled by her father. She attacked the palace of Kallapatt and killed the royal family along with Tayria who was heavy with child. Kar'ras flew into a rage and led a detachment of elite guards and troops back to Kallapatt to capture or kill his sister for her treacherous acts, but it was an ambush and she attacked him, but Kar'ras was able to kill her after she mortally wounded him. The guards brought him back to capital and I was able to say goodbye to my one friend on Tamaran before he succumbed to X'hal's embrace."

"Kori that's terrible…"

Kori held up her hands, "That is not all, a few years later I met and married my second husband, Lord General Ph'yzzon, Duke of the House of Zzon. I married him out of honor as he rescued me from a surprise attack by Gordanian mercenaries. He was dashing and handsome, but a bit older than me, and he seemed caring and kind enough. We too tried to have a child to produce an heir, but I miscarried again. Sadly though unlike Kar'ras he did not understand how I could give my heart to an "alien from a backwater planet like Earth," as he stated more than once and came to despise me for it. He was a traditional Tamaranean and could not fathom or believe that a Tamaranean and especially a daughter of My'andr, and royal heir to the House of Tikal could do such a thing. His hatred for me grew to the point that he allied himself with my sister, declared me a traitor for helping a peaceful faction of Gordanians and that I was no longer a true Tamaranean and Daughter of X'hal. So he and my sister banished me and now I am back to Earth."

Kori bowed her head and considered the contents of her wine glass then took another drink. Selena quietly watched Kori, she could tell that the poor girl was emotionally wrecked after telling her how and why she could still love Dick Grayson. It was like she never got a fair break as if the Universe was out to destroy her. Born of royalty, surrendered into slavery, escaping to Earth to fall in love Batman's protégé, have him break her heart more than once and eventually betraying her, returning to her home only to marry men out of duty to her station and losing both of them to death and treachery. As bad as Selena had it sometimes, she wouldn't trade places with Starfire for all the jewelry, gold and silver in the world. She decided to break the silence.

"Kori, so you have no plans to see Dick again."

Kori looked up at Selena and narrowed her eyes. "No. The pain would be more than I can bear. Instead I would prefer to be the soulless warrior, the _Tam'quo X'hal, _or Berserker of X'hal, no longer loving or caring for others, but being the perfect warrior. The _Tam'quo X'hal _were a monastic cult of warriors that were destroyed with Tamaran not long ago, but I studied their ways and am trying to emulate them. Only a few ever became the perfect warrior or _ha'Tam'Quo,_ and maybe I can be the first in a new line of perfect Berserker warriors, but it takes much discipline and training."

"Why Earth then, surely this isn't the best place to train for this perfect warrior."

"No, it is not, but at the time it is only place I can be safe where I will not be captured and sold into slavery or killed by those who hate Tamaraneans. At least here I can find safety until the situation changes on Tamaran. I had hoped to visit Themiskyra the home of Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl to train with the Amazons, but it seems my actions while with the Red Hood have ended that option."

"So what do you plan to do?"

"I do not know, the raid by the Justice League changed things quite a bit. I am just thankful that Jason received a warning from someone and you were at the pier to help me, but honestly, I do not know."

"Well for now looks like you're staying here or at least until we hear from Jason. Don't know how long that will be though, could be the next hour could be several days."

"I understand." Kori said with resignation.

"By the way, what about you and Jason or Roy?' Selena asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kori made a face and smirked. "Jason is nice enough to me, but he reminds of a more arrogant and less refined version of Dick. He is an ally and friend, nothing more. Roy on the other hand has made it clear that he would like to be more than just friends, but I am not interested."

"I see, well anyway were here until Jason contacts us. In the mean time you need to stay inside the mine. We don't want the locals to see you, you're kind of hard to hide you know. The people in the town might cause us some trouble."

"What about sunlight Selena, I must have sunlight to reenergize as much as I need food or air."

Selena smiled and got up from the sofa. "We've got you covered hon…" She reached out her hand, "C'mon I've got something to show you."

Kori took Selena's hand and rose up from the couch and put her wine glass on the table. "Lead on Selena."

Selena led Kori through a door then down a long corridor of stainless steel paneled walls. At the end was a secure door with a key pad lock. Selena entered the code and the door opened, both women entered the room and inside the room was a large sphere shaped apparatus in the center. There was something very familiar about the apparatus, a mixture of titanium alloy and glowing blue circuits. Kori felt panic rising in her, she glared at Selena and her eyes began to glow and she fired up an energy bolt.

The technology was unique to only one person and that person according to Jason was a member of the Justice League and he was stepping out from behind the apparatus. _Cyborg._

* * *

**Poor Kori, and another cliffhanger. **

**Much of the above concerning what Starfire said about giving Dick Grayson her heart and not being able to take it back is from the comics. Until the New 52 comics, Starfire was ever hoping to reunite with Dick Grayson, though they went their separate ways and Dick had pretty much moved on (she did too somewhat, but Dick Grayson was her One True Love). She even told lovers (Captain Comet) and potential lovers that her heart only belonged to one man and that was Dick Grayson. Such a predicament is great fodder for tragedy…**

**Anyway now Cyborg has entered the picture, where will that lead?**


	8. An Awkward Reunion

_**The characters belong to DC and Time-Warner, and I in no way own them or plan to make money off of them, but the story belongs to me.**_

**Today 2/27/2013 is the day that Damian Wayne the current Robin, dies in Issue #8 of Batman Inc. He has a heart-to-heart with Nightwing (Dick Grayson), just before his death. RIP Damian, aka "Bat Brat", You leave just as the fans were warming up to you, how sad.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**An Awkward Reunion**

Starfire fired a star bolt in the direction of Cyborg, hitting him square on. Instead of the star bolt knocking him down as expected, Cyborg was instead surrounded wave of blue light and her star bolt was absorbed. Cyborg raised up his hands, waving them to signal he meant no harm. Selena stepped between Starfire and Cyborg in an attempt to stop Starfire from attacking again.

"Whoa Star, I'm not here to bring you in, I'm here to help!" Cyborg cried out.

Selena joined in, "Kori, it's ok, he is here to help. He's a friend."

Starfire narrowed her eyes at both of them, not letting down her guard. She did not put it past Dick Grayson or Batman to trick her into a trap. She was aware of Selena's past with Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne, it was not a far stretch to think that she lead her here to only trap her. She also aware of Cyborg's affiliation with the Justice League and how did she know that Jason's contact was not also part of the trap. Instead she remained vigilant watching both of them, but she would let them have their say. One false move though, and she would take both out, and Cyborg's new shields would not stop her.

"How do I know you only wish to help Cyborg, are you not a member of the Justice League?" She asked keeping her tone menacing.

"Star, look, I'm your friend, nothing will ever change that. I'm here to make sure you're safe and have an energy source for your needs. If you think I'm lying, then do your worst, but I won't attack you."

Starfire turned her gaze now to Selena, "You knew about this?"

Selena sighed and nodded her head. "I did, I was asked not to tell you though, because he thought you'd bolt, and be in danger of being captured by the Justice League, which is the last thing you want right now."

"You did not do the trusting of me Selena?" Starfire asked with a hint of betrayal in her voice.

"It's not that I didn't trust you Kori, it's that we had no idea how you would react if you knew."

Starfire looked at both of them, she felt angry and betrayed, but yet she also sensed no malice in either of them. She dimmed her star bolts, but still remained on guard.

"So who is this "he" that thought I would run, if I knew?"

Selena smiled cautiously at Starfire, "Jason, he wanted to make sure you made it here safely before you knew. It was Cyborg that contacted him and both agreed along with myself, and a few others that you no know until you were safe here."

Starfire looked at Cyborg, "Why did you contact Jason, would that not jeopardize your status with the Justice League?"

Cyborg stepped a little closer to Starfire, "Because I was the best choice since I could contact Jason and not be traced. I'm not worried about my Justice League status, there's always the Titans, and I still think of you as a friend and I want to give you the chance Batman won't give you. Besides, I was asked too," Cyborg said with a knowing smile.

Starfire raised an eyebrow. "Who asked you?"

Cyborg chuckled. "Nightwing did."

Starfire's face turned hard. "I do not appreciate that _glempork_ meddling in my affairs or safety. You can tell him I can take care of myself!"

Cyborg nodded, "I'm sure you can Star, no doubts there, but when you have the whole Justice League after you, it's best to rely on what help you can get."

Starfire relaxed a little, "I suppose you are right Cyborg, but it still does the irritating of me that he is involved in anyway."

Cyborg grimaced slightly, "Star, I understand, but his reasons are different than what you think."

"Really, and how is that?" Starfire asked, with subtle irritation in her voice.

Cyborg took a breath and sighed silently, "A couple of days ago, we, I mean the Justice League were reviewing satellite and drone imagery of the attack in Qurac, that is when we discovered it was you that destroyed that armored battalion. We called in Nightwing to consult, since he is not a Justice League member, he has to be invited to the Watch Tower. After he reviewed the imagery and confirmed it was you, Batman made it clear you were to be aprehended. He also had the Green Lanterns contact Tamaran. It took them some time as we were unaware that it was destroyed and had to fine tune the direction of the communications array to find the Tamaranean Imperial signal beacon. Once we found it we opened a line of communications with the Grand Ruler, and all were surprised that your sister wore the crown once more. She addressed the Justice League and informed us of your exile and essentially stated that the Justice League were free to do with you as they saw fit, that you were no longer a citizen of Tamaran and any royal privileges or immunities were no longer in force. Blackfire then requested that she speak with Nightwing alone. I will tell you Batman ordered me to tap into the conversation, but your sister used an encryption routine I couldn't break. Anyway they spoke for over an hour and when Nightwing was finished he contacted me through the Titans frequency and told me your safety was imperative and to do what it takes to keep you out of the reach of the Justice League."

Starfire looked concerned and cocked her head slightly, "Did he tell you what she said?"

Cyborg shook his head, "Well, what Nightwing did tell me is that someone named General Ph'yzzon has had you declared a dangerous interstellar fugitive and put a bounty on your head. If you were captured and turned over to the Green Lanterns, you can be turned over to any recognized Vegan government meaning what's left of the Citadel or the Gordanians and I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. The other option was being thrown into Belle Reve Prison, where they'd slap a control collar on you in a cell block with the villainous meta-humans you helped bring to justice when you were a Titan and leaving you vulnerable to an assassination attempt."

What fury was still in Starfire was doused, her shoulders slumped and she hugged herself, looking down avoiding eye contact with both Selena and Cyborg. She felt a hand touch her shoulder, and she felt warmth in the touch despite the hand titanium alloy skin. She slowly looked up Cyborg, tears in her eyes.

"You ok Star?" Cyborg asked her.

Starfire nodded, but did not speak. She felt another hand touch her shoulders, thought this one was warmer and softer. She looked up and could Selena was now standing next to her.

"Kori, this General Ph'yzzon, he's your husband isn't he…, the same one you told me about earlier?"

Starfire nodded her head and felt her energy drain from her, she was emotionally compromised and she needed to lean on Cyborg for support. He helped Starfire over to a large armchair near a workstation and gently sat her down. Starfire looked up and attempted a smile.

Selena came over and sat on an arm of the chair and taking one of Starfire's hands in hers. "Oh Kori, I'm so sorry. Why would your husband to this?"

Starfire looked up a Cyborg, who was kneeling in front of her, "Did Nightwing say why?"

"He mumbled something about a Tamaranean power play and your sister was in danger too, even more so with you dead. He said nothing else though."

Starfire slowly nodded her head, and then sat up almost regally. "It would seem my husband is making a play for the crown. With me dead, he will invoke the right of _Tevr'y _forcing my sister to marry him or be challenged for the crown. Since General Ph'yzzon is my husband and the Duke of the House of Zzon he has the right to demand a marriage to her or challenge her for the crown if she refuses."

Selena looked confused, "Then why did he not have you killed outright, instead of exiling you?"

Starfire shook her head, "To do so would have marked him as a traitor. Instead he needed me off planet first so he could find some way to mark me as a criminal, thereby putting a bounty on my head. If I am correct it is a serious enough accusation with the manufactured evidence to be a capital crime and warrant my death. On Tamaran we do not have guilty until proven innocent and my status as a traitorous exile is more than enough to prove that I am guilty, whether I am or not. Once I am dead he can move on with his plans to take the crown and make himself the Grand Ruler, either by marriage to my sister or her death by defeating her via a challenge."

"But Star, from what I remember, only you and your sister have the ability to cast star bolts and the eye beams are unique too right? So Blackfire should be able to defeat this Ph'yzzon character easily, right?" Cyborg asked.

Starfire shook her head, "No, not really. Ph'yzzon was also experimented on by the Psions, giving him the power of bilocation. He can be in two places at once, and it makes him a challenging opponent. Also his flying skills are as good as mine, Blackfire may have been the better fighter, but she was not a natural flyer. She couldn't fly because of a rare disease, but that was fixed by the Psions when they held us both captive. Her flight skills are sloppy and two dimensional and he's a better tactician. As powerful as my sister is, I would count on Ph'yzzon winning a challenge against her and she knows this. As long as I live though, he cannot invoke the _Tevr'y, _There is no divorce on Tamaran, only death can dissolve our marriage."

"Well then, we'll do our best to keep you safe until Nightwing can get Batman to call off the search for you and this all quiets down. Thing is I don't know when that's gonna be. You're little display of power in Qurac has made the Quracki government very angry and they are threatening retaliation on the country they are blaming for this, Borastan, a strong western ally and with large oil reserves. If the Quracki's attack Borastan, the war could spread across the Middle East and cause an economic crisis like we haven't seen in ages."

Starfire became suddenly contemplative then smiled at Cyborg, "Enough of that for now, Cyborg…, Victor, tell me what has happened to you in the last fourteen years."

"Well you know I moved up to the Justice League. I did so not long after Sarah passed away." His voice cracked slightly.

"Oh Cyborg, not Sarah Simms, I am so very sorry to hear of that." Starfire said genuinely concerned as she reached out and touched the human side of his face.

Cyborg closed his human eye, then looked back at Starfire, he noticed Selena looked sadly at him too. "Yeah, it happened about six years ago, she got a rare form of leukemia and there was nothing the doctors could do. Even the medical geniuses at S.T.A.R. Labs and Wayne Medical couldn't find a cure. I first blamed myself for it all, thinking my power cores were leaking an unknown form of radiation, but the Doc's assured me I was clean and that her form of leukemia was a genetic mutation. I still felt guilty though, but Raven helped me through it. I was invited to join the Justice League by the big guy himself, Superman, and I took the offer. The Tower was too depressing since Sarah stayed with me there, I had to get away. Only Raven and Changeling, as Garfield call himself, are there now from the original members. You know they got married and have two kids, a girl and a boy. The girl, Jenny, is a lot like Green Bean, and even morphs like he does, but has Raven's empathy The boy, Ash, well he's gloomy like Raven and can form portals, oh and he was wings, dark raven like wings, they come out when he reveals his abilities. He can't change into animals like Jenny can, instead he changes into a dark angelic being, and when he does he goes by the name Azriel. Traditional name for the Angel of Death, like I said he's a dark little boy. Raven's sent him to Azaroth for a while to be trained and learn to control his darker self."

Starfire smiled, a reflective look on her face, then she sighed. "I should like to see them all, but I am not sure if now is the time. I have much to work through myself Victor. When I came back to Earth I resolved to never see any of you again as I did not want to relive the emotions and pain that would come with such visitations. Now that I have seen you again, I was correct that I would feel painful emotions, but I also feel good emotions, as you say bittersweet memories. Believe me though, if there was another place in this galaxy for me to go to, where I would have felt safe, I would have. I had no other choice but to come to Earth and I made a rash choice in seeking out Red X, but I did. Had I known he was Jason Todd, I would have sought someone else, but I did not. I only planned for my liaison with Red X to be temporary anyway, but I found him to be engaging, comfortable to be around and he allows me to be myself, unlike Dick who wanted me to conform to the ways of Earth."

Cyborg chuckled at that. "You know Star; I don't think Dick ever truly appreciated you. He loved you sure, but he never quite got over you being an alien. I'll be honest and tell you, that he and I had a man to man talk shortly before he asked you to marry him and he was concerned about you being an alien and a princess, but mostly being an alien. He said he loved you and wanted more than anything to be with you, but he worried about how compatible the two of you really were. If you the two of you could even have children, he always wanted kids and if your alien nature would affect the kids and those around them. He told me he planned to pop the question to you and wanted to marry you, but how would others accept it; a human marrying a Tamaranean. Frankly I thought he worried too much and I told him to take the plunge and ask you any way. Sometimes I wish I told him different and maybe wait, and no need in rushing something that didn't need to be rushed. The two you were doing fine without the pressure of marriage. Maybe you would've not left and we'd still be fighting bad guys together… Buy hey we can't dwell in the past can we?"

Starfire smiled, but it was bittersweet smile and she felt the tears well up in her eyes again. The memories of when she was on Earth before flooding her mind, Beast Boy, Raven, Cyborg, the other Teen Titans, and of course Dick Grayson. The boy who was Robin 20 years ago, the human boy she fell in love with and who in time returned her love and became her lover. Together they planned his transition to Nightwing and on the night he announced his change from Robin to the other Titans, was the same night he asked her to marry him. Of course she said yes, he was the young man who held her heart, the man she loved with all her heart, soul and body. Then the day before the wedding, betrayal! She found him in bed that fateful morning with Barbara Gordon and her heart shattered into a thousand pieces. Her world destroyed and she had to leave get away from the hurt and the pain. To her it seemed the others were protecting Dick, telling her to calm down, there had to be an explanation, but it was too much, so she flew out of there with the last happy memory she had left to her and that was of the day Robin let her keep Silkie. She flew to her room in the manor and grabbed Silkie, then she found Bumble Bee knowing Herald would be with her and asked him to open a portal to Tamaran that she needed to go home and get something important before the wedding. She did not tell them the truth, they would find out soon enough. Maybe after she calmed down, then she might come back, but Galfore forbade it and she remained on Tamaran.

She never heard from Nightwing again after her hasty departure, and it only confirmed in her mind that he did not want her or even cared that she was gone. He had Barbara now and she was back amongst her people, a princess again. For a while though she hoped he might try to contact her or show up on her balcony one day to explain everything and ask her to come back. She would check her private console every day at least ten times a day or go out on the balcony hoping to see him standing there, hand stretched out to her. He never did though and as time went on, she gave up hope. At first, she imagined that she would go back with him, forgiving him of his lapse of judgment, but over time she became bitter and no longer wanted to see him again.

By the time she married Karras, she rarely thought of Dick Grayson any more, but it was hard not too since she gave him her heart. On the day of her wedding to Karras, part of her felt like she was the one who was the traitor, but she held her head high and pushed Dick Grayson's memory away and enjoyed the ceremony and night of consummation with her new husband. If only Karras had not loved another too, she might have considered Dick Grayson dead to her, and given Karras what remained of her heart, but his love for Tayria prevented that. She thought it odd though that even after fourteen years away from Dick Grayson and two husbands later, that her heart still belonged to him.

Now Jason was in her life, she felt different. It was true what she said about Jason in that he appreciated her as a Tamaranian and he put no pressure on her. She felt comfortable around him and not like she had to be the naïve little lost alien girl, and she appreciated that. She knew she felt no physical attraction towards Jason, or so she thought, but she really never considered it. She liked Jason as a friend, someone she could trust and be open with or at least until now. After yesterday things had changed, Jason sending her off and not telling her who she would be going to. She felt that again she was unappreciated and not trusted. She had to push her anger back though, because she knew that duplicity was the way of humans and something she never quite understood. One thing she did know was that if the people of this planet ever got past their differences and headed out to the stars they would be a force to be reckoned with. She never met a race as duplicitous as humans could be.

She turned her attention back to Cyborg, "Victor, how much longer will I be here and where are Jason and Roy."

Cyborg's face to a serious tone, "I don't know how long you'll be here Star, that's why I brought that solar chamber here. As long as Batman is looking for you, we can't let you out of here to be seen. As far as Jason and Roy, well…, Jason's still on the run, he went into deep hiding, but Roy was caught and is now being held on the Watch Tower. Fortunately for you, he has no idea where you are, but Jason does and until we hear from him or he gets caught you're to stay put here."

Starfire grimaced, the thought of being this deep underground brought back too many bad memories of the Citadel and the Gordanians. "Victor, you have to get in touch with Jason, I cannot do the staying here, it would be like a prison…"

Cyborg held up his hands, "Star hold on, you won't be here too long, can't be, we just need to make sure Jason's deep enough before we get more instructions about what to do. Hopefully he won't try to rescue Roy, he'll more than likely get caught, ole Bats has set up traps for him if he comes as either Red X or Red Hood."

"I need to get in contact with Jason then…"

"No can do Star, I don't know where is. Only one person besides Jason knows where he is and he ain't telling."

Starfire considered what Cyborg said, "It is Nightwing correct? He knows where Jason is hiding…"

"You didn't here that from me Little Lady." Cyborg said trying to avoid Starfire's glare.

Starfire's visage turned thoughtful then determined. "Then you give me no choice Victor, as much as I dread it, I must speak with Nightwing."

* * *

**Yes Dick Grayson slept with Barbara Gordon and was caught by Starfire. That was the betrayal, but the why he did it is coming up. For those who may not be aware of this, comic canon wise, Dick Grayson did sleep with Barbara Gordon the day before he was to marry Starfire (though she didn't catch him), unfortunately that wedding was a disaster with Evil Trigon Possessed Raven practically violating Starfire and killing the priest. Both Dick and Kory didn't recover and she left Earth for Tamaran, marrying General Ph'yzzon three months after returning home (I guess he was the rebound guy). The disaster of the wedding effectively ended Dick Grayson's and Starfire's relationship as committed lovers, though they would meet up again from time to time, the big reconciliation never happened. **

**Sarah Simms does not die in the comics, but she and Cyborg do have a falling out. I opted to go for a more tragic end to their relationship and one from which Cyborg never fully recovers. I want to set up a common ground of tragedy between Cyborg and Starfire. He's going to be Star's anchor in the upcoming chapters.**

**Raven and Beast Boy's kids are my own invention, and have no correlation in the comics. Though Raven and Changeling (Beast Boy) still run the Titans and live in Titans Tower still, similar to the current comics. **

**Anyway, more chapters in the works, angst is going to go up quite a bit so be warned. **

**Later**

**Hammer of Oblivion. **


	9. Promotion

_**The characters belong to DC and Time-Warner, and I in no way own them or plan to make money off of them, but the story belongs to me.**_

**Since this story takes place about 14 years after Starfire left, **_**for the purposes of the story Dick Grayson was 20 when he was to marry Starfire.**_** So, in case you all are wondering, here is a list of the main characters so far and their ages:**

**Starfire/Koriand'r/Kori Anders – 33 Earth years old **_(She's roughly the same age as Dick Grayson, but a little bit younger)._

**Dick Grayson/Nightwing – 34 years old **

**Jason Todd/Red X/Red Hood – 33 Years Old **_(I know in the comics he's a few years younger than Dick Grayson, but to make him Red X and to fit into the Teen Titans time line I made him closer to Dick Grayson's age)._

**Roy Harper/Arsenal – 34 years old**

**Selena Kyle/Catwoman – 49 years old **_(Brings a whole new meaning to the term Cougar)_

**Barbara Gordon/Batgirl – 37 years old **_(She's always been older than Dick Grayson, much older when she was first introduced in the 1960's, like in college while Dick Grayson was in middle school. She was later retconned to be closer in age to Dick Grayson so she could have a relationship with him to replace Starfire)_

**Victor Stone/Cyborg – 36 years old **_(Always the oldest of the original Teen Titans, the big brother)_

**Bruce Wayne/Batman – 52 years old **_(I figure Bruce was in his mid-20's when he took on Dick Grayson as a ward and apprentice)._

**Wally West/Flash – 34 years old**

**Bart Allen/Impulse – 18 years old**

**Rachel Roth/Raven – 32 years old**

**Garfield Logan/Beast Boy/Changeling – 31 years old**

**Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman – 53 Earth years old, but ages much slower so he looks like he's 30.**

**Diana Prince/Wonder Woman – Immortal, age unknown**

**John Jones/J'onn J'onnzz/Martian Manhunter – Age unknown**

**Tim Drake/Red Robin – 27 years old **_(Current leader of the Titans)._

**Catalina Flores/Tarantula – 30 years old **_(She'll be less troublesome than she was in the comics, but still a love interest of Dick Grayson's)._

**Slade Wilson/Deathstroke – 54 years old **_(Oh what role could he possibly play, he he?)_

**Rose Wilson/Ravager – 25 years old **_(Member of the Titans)._

**That's it for now I think, the last four will be showing up soon.**

**Chapter 9**

**The Detective**

With all that was going on, the ceremony to promote new detectives could not have come at a more inconvenient time. Unfortunately for Dick Grayson, now was his time to be promoted to detective of the Bludhaven Police Department. Thankfully though, it also took Batman away from his search for Starfire because he had already committed to being at the ceremony, not only to see his adopted son's promotion, but as representative of Wayne Industries, which had a sizeable interest in the shipping and warehousing industries in Bludhaven. Of course Dick's younger brother Tim Drake was there, along with Wally West, Gotham City's Commissioner Gordon and his niece Barbara.

He'd been looking forward to this day for some time. After ten years on the Bludhaven Police Force he was up for detective and made it on the first pass. The BPD was a traditional police department and required 10 years of exemplary service before being eligible for detective so making on the first pass was rare. He liked to believe hard work was what got him promoted, but in the back of his mind, there was the nagging feeling that his relationship to Bruce Wayne might have had something to do with it, but he chose to ignore it. No instead he planned to enjoy the promotion as much as he could.

So here he was, standing on the stage with his fellow rookie detectives in the Grand Lobby of Bludhaven's City Hall in his dress blue uniform, waiting for the Mayor and Chief Redhorn to finish their speeches. He would wait for the mayor to call his name and then walk forward as the chief presented him with his new detective's badge and letter of promotion. The good thing about being a detective is it would allow him greater access to the police records and databases helping him nail crime lords like Blockbuster.

Unfortunately this day was sullied by the whole mess with Starfire and Red Hood. He wondered what his life would have been like if she stayed, if they had married. Would he even be working in Bludhaven now, or still in Jump City, would he still be running the Titans? Who knows, that path of his life was long gone now, making her return a rude interruption in his life.

"Sargeant Richard John Grayson…" he heard Chief Redhorn call his name and he stepped forward as his new badge was pinned on his uniform and a duplicate in an leather wallet was given to him along with the letter of promotion that was in a navy blue padded document folder emblazoned with the seals of the BPD and the City of Bludhaven in gold leaf. After his turn he returned to his position on the temporary stage and tried to ignore the clapping from the crowd, even the cat-call that could only be from Wally West. He barely shook his head and tried to find Wally in the crowd so he could glare at him. He didn't have any luck though as the stage lights were too bright to see much of anyone in the audience.

After a few closing words by the Mayor, he and the other rookie detectives were dismissed and they stepped down from the stage to mingle in the crowd of well-wishers, families, fellow cops and politicians. He shook a few hands as he made his way over to Bruce and the others. He only wished he could enjoy this day more, but unfortunately the issue with Starfire was a distraction.

"Congratulations Dick, you know in Gotham, you'd have made detective in half the time," Said Commissioner Jim Gordon as he grabbed Dick's hand firmly.

"Thanks Commissioner, but I'm afraid my status in Gotham would've had some undue influence." Dick answered graciously.

"Oh nonsense Dick, I've been talking to Chief Redhorn and he speaks highly of you. One of the best officers he's seen in a long time."

Dick was about to answer, but the imposing figure of Chief Redhorn interrupted. "You trying to steal my best officer, I mean detective, Jim. Well you can't have him."

Commissioner Gordon smiled at Chief Redhorn and shook his hand. "I've tried for some time Del, but he'll have nothing of it," Jim Gordon chuckled.

The two old policemen continued to banter as Dick stepped over to Bruce, Wally and Barbara. "Good work Dick, I want you to know I am proud of you. You've done some good work here in Bludhaven."

Dick nodded and took the hand Bruce offered him, "Thanks Bruce, and thanks for supporting me on this. I know you'd prefer I stayed in Gotham, but I had to do this on my own."

Bruce let himself smile a little, "I know you did, you were always your own man Dick, and you've proved it. Now when do you think you'll change your mind and work for me? I need a good Chief Security Officer and you'd fit the bill."

"Nice offer Bruce, but not today." Dick said with a mischievous smile.

"Well at least Barbara's smart enough to work for me, best Chief Information Officer I've ever had. You two would work great together."

"Ain't going there Bruce, you know better than that. I do appreciate the offer though, but I think I owe the taxpayers of Bludhaven my services first," Dick said then winked at Barbara.

Barbara giggled lightly, then winked back, "I think Dick likes it here Bruce. From what I hear he may even have a reason to hang around and I think I see that reason coming now."

Bruce had a genuine look of surprise on his face, then looked in the direction Barbara indicated to see the Mateo Flores the Bludhaven's young, up and coming D.A. and a very attractive young woman with him that could only be his sister. Dick rolled his eyes at Barbara and turned to see the pair heading there way. He motioned for them to head over to introduce them to Bruce.

"Bruce, Barbara, I know you are acquainted with Bludhaven's current district attorney, Mateo Flores, well this is his sister FBI Agent Catalina Flores. She's stationed at the Gotham bureau, but came down to watch the ceremony with her brother."

Bruce shook Mateo's hand then took Catalina's hand and kissed it, "Pleased to meet you Agent Flores."

Catalina withdrew her and raised an eyebrow at Bruce, "Nice to meet you to Mr. Wayne, and your reputation precedes you, billionaire playboy and all. You may call me Catalina if you like."

Bruce tipped his head towards and smiled charmingly, "So how do you know the newly minted Detective Grayson, Catalina?"

Catalina smiled at Dick then touched him on the shoulder in way that both Bruce and Mateo noticed, "Oh, he assisted me on a case a few months back and let's just say we work well together."

Dick turned a bit red at Catalina's comment and Barbara rolled her eyes then smiled at Dick knowingly. Bruce tilted his head and was about to say something when Wally interrupted him.

"Tell us what she really means Dick. No sense in hiding it from everybody and _you know_ Bruce will find out eventually."

Dick looked at Wally with mock surprise then he nodded his head and smiled. "Well if you all must know Cat and I've been seeing each other for a few weeks now. Though we keep our professional lives separate as much as we can. Don't want any conflicts of interest now do we?"

Bruce pursed his lips then turned towards Wally and then glanced back at Barbara and said with hint of menace in his tone. "So you two have known about this and didn't tell me?"

Barbara smiled at Bruce coyly, "Come now Bruce, you mean you didn't know? Dick's been practically beaming for a month now. Both Wally and I figured it out before he told us. He had that look, you know the one."

"Yeah, I know the one, been a while since I've seen it though. Well good for you Dick, looks like things are working out for you. I never thought you'd move on.

Catalina looked puzzled at Bruce's last statement. "Move on? I thought you and Barbara had moved on? Or so both of you told me you had?"

Dick shook his head and grimaced at Bruce. "He's referring to someone from the past Cat, He still thinks I'm hung up on Kori Anders for some reason or another, but that's ancient history now."

"Well it took you a while to even think about dating again and you and Barbara didn't work out, and you didn't even consider seeing anyone after you and she called it quits." Bruce protested.

Catalina considered what Dick had said, ignoring Bruce altogether, "Kori Anders…, that name sounds familiar, Oh yeah she was that super-model you dated…, like fifteen years ago or so. Weren't you two supposed to get married?"

Dick wanted to kill Bruce at the moment, why now of all times did he have to hint at that. It wouldn't be a problem if it were not a fact that Kori was back now to only complicate his life even more. He rolled his eyes then chuckled to help ease matters.

"Yeah she was the super-model I dated when I was younger, things didn't work out though and she ran off on our wedding day. Never saw her again after that, like she fell off the face of the Earth or something."

Dick glanced over at Barbara and she tried to hide her discomfort over the conversation about Kori.

"Oh yeah I remember now, "Dick Grayson, Gotham's Hottest Young Bachelor Heartbroken Over Fiancé's Cold Feet," was the headline. It was all over the news, Entertainment Tonight, TMZ and the Internet gossip sites. I guess I forgot about all that drama… Didn't she just like disappear, never to be seen again?"

Dick looked down, to keep Catalina from seeing the look on his face mostly. With all that was going and Kori being back, the old wound was trying its best to reopen again. He sighed and answered her, "Yeah, she vanished no one knew what happened to her, and we never found out. Her agency put in a missing persons report on her and she had no family, they passed away in a horrible accident when she was fifteen. She was staying with friends in Jump City when I met her when I was staying out there. But hey like I said that was ancient history and I've got a good life ahead of me now." Dick squeezed Catalina's hand and smiled at her.

"Let's all head over to the reception at the Biltmore, and we can celebrate the future. I'm sure Bruce will use the time to network or hobnob with the socialites." Dick said to change the subject.

Bruce narrowed his eyes at him, "You know me all too well Detective Grayson, and if you don't watch it, I might just spend some time getting to know Ms. Flores a little better."

"No robbing the cradle old man, besides where's Diana, or is it Vicki this week?" Dick said with a smirk.

Bruce rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Diana had to work and Vicki and I haven't been an item for some time now."

"Oh yeah that's right Diana keeps you in line doesn't she?" Dick shot back, causing Wally to snicker.

Bruce glared at Wally who darted behind Barbara and then back at Dick. "Alright you win, come on we have a reception to go to."

Bruce moved to the main lobby door and the others followed him. Others were making their way to the lobby door too, thinning out the lobby of City Hall. Catalina locked her arm with Dick's as they walked to the door.

"I'm sorry that Bruce brought up your past on your day." She said.

Dick smiled at her, "Don't worry about it Cat, he's just being Bruce. He didn't like Kori to begin with, said she had too much control over me. Maybe he was right, but it doesn't matter now. I'd known her for over five years and she was my best friend in Jump City for three of those years then we dated for the last two years when we decided to get married. Her leaving like she did was devastating to me, and I'll admit she took a part of my soul with her when she did, but I deserved it."

Catalina looked surprised when he said that. "What do you mean that you deserved it?"

Dick regretted saying that, and thought of a way to distract her but he couldn't. "Well, uh…,"

Just then his cell rang and he glanced and the number and noticed it was Cyborg's personal number. He was never so thankful to get a cell phone call like he was now.

"Cat, I have to take this, head on over without me, I'll meet you over there."

Catalina raised her eyebrows, "Well it better be business, Mr. Always Working, Don't keep me waiting," She said as she headed out the lobby door

"I won't, and stay away from Wally, he's a menace." He called to her, and waving to her as she went. He then found a secure room and redialed Cyborg's number who promptly answered.

"Yo man, I was about to call back, where are you?"

"At my promotion ceremony, made detective today remember."

"Oh, that was today? Congrats man."

"So what's up, is everything ok?"

"Well she's secure, she was a bit jumpy at first, even attacked me when she first saw me. Thankfully my new shields held, but she's better now, for the most part anyway. Not happy with everything though, especially that you're involved."

"Figures, what's got her in a tizzy?"

Cyborg chuckled at that. "She's not happy with staying here, and wants to know where Jason is? Oh and she wants to talk to you?"

"What! Now! Over the phone? Is there methane or some other gas in there making you both crazy? No way!"

"No Dick, of course not over the phone, she wants to see you personally."

Dick rolled his eyes and he felt his stomach knot up like he just got punched in the gut by Starfire just now.

"Now's not a good time Vic, no way, not today anyway. Bruce is here, so is Barbara and Cat's here too. I can't just leave. I'm off tomorrow..., damn I'm supposed spend the day with Cat and take her to a concert tomorrow, don't think I can back out without raising suspicions with her or you know who."

"Man, she ain't gonna like that you know. Don't know if can fully handle her if she gets impatient. She's not the same Dick, more regal and demanding than she used to be. Guess she's used to telling people what to do now. When do you think you can sneak off down here then?"

"Today's Friday, let's see… Sunday morning. I'm scheduled to work one more Sunday evening shift, then I'm on days starting Tuesday. I don't think she can wait until Monday. So tell her I'll meet with her on Sunday. You think you can hijack the transporter from there? That part of the country's a few hours away from here you know."

"No problem Dick, I've got you covered. No one will ever know."

"Great, thanks Vic. Oh and tell her I said Hi and be patient. Let me know if things change though."

"I will, hope she'll take it well. I'll call you later."

"Good, I've gotta get to the reception before I'm missed."

"Yeah, later Dick."

Dick disconnected and headed out the door to be greeted by a grim looking Bruce.

"Important call?"

"Yeah it was Vic, giving me a heads up on the situation. He got a possible hit on Starfire in the Ecuadorian Andes and he's following up on it. No word on Jason though." Dick said without missing a step.

Bruce studied him, like he was looking for something. "Interesting that John hasn't contacted me about it, but he is busy with other company issues and this is Vic's assignment. Where is he by the way?"

"He was at Jump City, he was there checking on some old data files we had on Kori when he got a hit on her energy signature… He wanted to let me know and keep me up to speed."

"Hmmm…" Just then Bruce's phone rang. He looked at the number then answered promptly.

"Yes… In the Andes… Ecuador… I see… See if you can find Victor… Oh good. Call me if there's any news."

Bruce turned back to Dick. "Seems Victor contacted John and John verified the signature. Clark, Diana and John are on their way to investigate. Jason Hopefully will have her soon, now let's go and on the way you can tell me all about Catalina Flores.

"Sure Bruce, but you best keep your mitts off of Cat. You're old enough to be her daddy." Dick said, smiling more at the fact that he and Cyborg's preplanned ruse worked, for now anyway.

As they walked back over, he thought about Sunday morning and seeing Starfire again after fourteen years. He felt his heart rise up in his throat and swallowed hard to calm himself. What would he say to her and how would he react. He was going to need some help with this meeting, of that he was sure. After the reception, he planned to make a quick call to Raven and get her to help, maybe even go with him. No telling how Kori might react and after fourteen years of living on Tamaran again and in the palace, he was sure she was more like the feral warrior he met twenty years ago than the girl he fell in love with. Yeah, taking Raven with him might be the best thing after all.

**What, you thought I'd have Nightwing and Starfire meet up again in this chapter? Nope, they may not even get to meet at all. Besides I'm not ready for that much angst yet.**

**As far as Catalina Flores is concerned, there was a brief relationship between her and Dick Grayson in the comics, but it was ugly and those who've read it know what I'm talking about. I'm not going to describe it here though, but what happened was controversial. Google Catalina Flores if you want to know. This will be different and a relationship to keep Dick distracted from Starfire or will it? Those of you hoping for a Dick Grayson/Barbara Gordon relationship, sorry they are very good friends in here and nothing more, too much baggage in their past to make it work for my tastes.**

**So until next time…**


	10. Uncertainty

_**The characters belong to DC and Time-Warner, and I in no way own them or plan to make money off of them, but the story belongs to me.**_

**Chapter 10**

**Uncertainty**

* * *

"_Princess Koriand'r, your betrothed, General Ph'yzzon is requesting to speak with you," said K'lara, Koriand'r's favorite Lady in Waiting._

_Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a moment, Koriand'r considered K'lara's statement; _"…your betrothed…" _Another male that wished to join with her, her fourth betrothed, or at least she assumed that the first one was male, there was no doubt about the last three though and the latest was one more in the long line of males that wished to be her life mate. Lord General Ph'yzzon, the Twelfth Duke of the House of Zzon and General of the Order of the Golden Sun. He was an honorable man and a great warrior, one worthy to marry the Princess of Tamaran._

"_Princess, your answer?" K'lara asked, her head down to show humility._

"_I will see him, K'lara. I will meet him in my receiving chamber."_

"_Yes Your Highness," K'lara bowed and backed out to the hall where the General was waiting._

_Koriand'r finished with her morning preparations and floated off to the receiving chamber to meet with the General. Upon arriving, General Ph'yzzon was waiting there gazing out the window and the morning sunrise, resplendent in his armor, his long white hair pulled neatly back in warrior's lock. He turned to face her as she entered the chamber and smiled adoringly at her as he reached out his hand, beckoning her to join him. She took the proffered hand and joined him at the window._

"_Good morning Princess, did you have a pleasant slumber?"_

"_Yes and you General?"_

"_I did," he turned to her with a genuine smile. "I dreamt of you and our upcoming marriage. I know that our marriage is one of honor Your Highness, but I do wish you will come to find our joining to be a pleasant one."_

_Koriand'r faced Py'zzon and smiled pleasantly. "I also wish our joining to be pleasant."_

_Ph'yzzon turned to her, his face serious but kind. "Your Highness, I must say that even though our marriage is one of honor per our traditions, I confess that in the time of our courtship I have grown to love you… Princess Koriand'r I would like our vows to be traditional and not the vows of treaty."_

_Koriand'r felt her heart rise in her chest. In many ways she felt she could love Ph'yzzon of that she had no doubt, but she understood that traditional vows meant that the bride and groom proclaimed not only their love, but their hearts to each other and she knew that was impossible, her heart was given away a long time ago and even if he died she could not give it to someone else, it was the curse and blessing of her people. _

_She smiled sadly at Ph'yzzon, then averted her eyes from him. "Your Grace, I do not know what to say, your request honors me greatly, but I do not know, this is quite the surprise."_

_Ph'yzzon looked concerned, "I apologize Princess, did I offend you?"_

"_No General, you did not, you honored me, but…" She slowly turned away from him to look out of the window._

"_But what?" Ph'yzzon asked with a sense of confusion._

"_General, as you know I lived on the world known as Earth for some time and formed a deep relationship with one of the planet's heroes while there. Unfortunately this relationship became one of love and I was to marry him for love and not out of duty our honor. I believed I would not return to Tamaran, as I gave up the crown to Lord Galfore and planned to live on Earth the rest of my days. Unfortunately, it was to this man I gave my heart and as you know as a Tamaranean there is no way to take it back."_

_Ph'yzzon's visage became dark, the smile now gone from his face. "I know of your time on Earth Princess and I knew of the relationship you had on Earth, but it was my understanding that this fool of an Earthling betrayed you and that is why you came back. How can this _clorbag _still have your heart?"_

_Koriand'r held her head high, as befitting her station, and glared back at Ph'yzzon. "General, are you not a Tamaranean? Do you not know that once a Tamaranean gives their heart to someone, they can never take it back, even in death? It is not something I can change, even though I wish I could. Like Karrass, I will love you and honor you as my husband, and we can have a loving and lasting relationship together, but I cannot in good conscience take the traditional marriage vows before X'Hal as it would be a lie. I am truly sorry Ph'yzzon, but I will not make my vows a lie."_

_Ph'yzzon turned away in frustration. "I do not understand Princess, how could you have given your heart to such a weak and lowly creature as a human? They are not the warriors we are, unable to fly and much weaker. You could have swatted him like a bug, but instead you fell in love with him and gave him your heart. I thought maybe that because you were young that it was just a girl's fancy, but evidently it was a genuine _las'to'na. _My question to you then is does this marriage mean nothing more to you than marriage of treaty? I had hoped it could be more." His final sentenced trailed off with a bit of sadness to it._

_Koriand'r carefully considered her words, Ph'yzzon was an important and powerful man, and one her brother needed to pull the empire back together. She smiled at him and answered as pleasantly as she could. "Your Grace, I too hope it can be more. I have grown very fond of you and believe you will be a most excellent husband, and there is no other on Tamaran I would rather be with. Even though there is a significant difference in our age, you are a far better choice than the other young princess and nobles. I will do my best to be a loving and caring wife and life mate, please do not let the indiscretion of my youth be a thorn in our marriage. Who knows, maybe over time I will find a way to give you my heart."_

_Ph'yzzon remained silent for a few moments then slowly turned to look at Koriand'r, his face was impassive. "Princess Koriand'r, I thank you for your kind words and I am most pleased that you have grown fond of me. I will do all that I can to help you love me as I have grown to love you. I must admit though I will find it difficult to get past your youthful indiscretion, though I will try." _

_He clicked his heals then bowed to her. "I will now take my leave Princess, you will not see me until the evening of our wedding."_

_With that, General Ph'yzzon did a sharp about face and marched out of the receiving chamber and closed the door firmly behind him. _

_Koriand'r stood there staring at the door, not knowing what to think. It burdened her to know that she had hurt this man who had been very kind to her in the time of their courtship. She had no wish to hurt him, but the truth was the truth. She sighed at the predicament she was in and had to look outside at the activity going on outside the palace to take her mind off what just happened and to control her own anger at the man she had given her heart too. What a fool she had been and she prayed to X'hal continuously to help her forget the _clorbag_ that betrayed her. _

_She turned to walk away, her power of flight compromised at the moment, when their came a loud banging at the door._

"_Go away!"_

"_Star, c'mon out, we need to talk!"_

She opened her eyes, and remembered she was no longer on Tamaran, but on Earth and in Cyborg's solar sphere. She sighed and turned off the mechanism as Cyborg had instructed her and the hatch opened up to her. She stepped outside to see Cyborg standing there waiting for her.

"Didya fall asleep in there?" Cyborg said as he wrapped a robe around her, thankful that she had the sense to keep her underwear on.

She nodded her head, "No, more like dozing off, but not quite asleep. You can say I was lost in a daydream."

"Oh, sorry, guess it can happen. Anyway, I came to tell you what Dick said."

"Will he come to this place and speak with me?" Starfire asked with some trepidation in her voice.

Cyborg pressed his lips together, and took a deep breath, "He seemed very surprised at the request, but he did agree to come here and speak with you, though it will be Sunday morning before he can make it."

The look of disappointment was clear on Starfire's face. "I see, why until Sunday, that is two days from today correct?"

Cyborg continued to watch her, her body language was impassive which for Starfire could be a bad thing. "Well, today he's attending his promotion ceremony in Bludhaven, he was promoted to detective on the police department and it's a big deal. Plus Bruce Wayne and a few other members of the Bat Family and Justice Leaguers in the secret identities are there. He can't just skip out, it would look too suspicious."

Starfire nodded her head in contemplation, "What about tomorrow?" she asked flatly with hardly any emotion.

"He has some prior commitments and would raise some suspicion if he didn't keep them." Cyborg said cautiously.

Starfire sighed and then she deflated. She sat down in one of the chairs and brought her knees up to chest and hugged herself. She sat that way for a while, staring at point on the opposite wall, then a tiny smile crept across her face and let out a small giggle.

"You ok Star?"

Her smile grew bigger, "I am fine Victor. I am disappointed a bit though, but I understand. Things have changed since I was gone."

"Whaddya mean Star? Why'd you giggle?"

"It is the funny that is all. I remember a time when Dick Grayson would find any means necessary to answer my call, now he puts me off. I understand today is a big day for him, but not sure of the reasons about tomorrow. No matter though, it appears I will have to the waiting."

A thoughtful look came across her face, "Tell me Victor, how is Richard doing? If I am to speak with him, I would like to know how things are going with him now. What happened after I left?"

Cyborg thought about what she asked, raising his one human eyebrow, "You really want to know?"

Starfire nodded her head and motioned to the seat next to her. Cyborg sat down and contemplated what he planned to say.

"Well after you left he was pretty devastated, hell the boy couldn't function. Locked himself in his room at that manor for a couple of weeks, though Alfred would bring him food, he hardly ate it, then one day he came out in his Nightwing costume, walked over to Bruce and punched him square in the face, then told us it was time to leave. We went back to the Tower, but things were different, he was darker, more vicious in his fights than before and was hard on us. Then after a couple of months we had all had about enough of him, he calls me aside and tells me he's leaving the Titans in my hands, he couldn't stand it in the Tower or Jump City anymore and the next day he was gone. A couple weeks later, he's back in Gotham working at Wayne Industries in Research and Development and Nightwing appeared in Bludhaven."

Starfire tilted her head, "Why did he punch his father?"

"Dick blamed Bruce for what happened and that was it, they worked things out enough for him to return to the fold though and start his life in Bludhaven. He didn't work for Wayne long though and took his trust fund and bought Haley's Circus, turning into an American version of Cirque de Soleil, getting rid of the animal performances and only focusing on human performers. It was pretty successful too and the big draw was that certain Titans would perform too in cities they were protectors of. Worked like a charm. He ran and toured with the circus for about three years, then he turned the running of over to Jack Haley Jr. and decided to remain in Bludhaven and joined the police force there and he's been there ever since. The income he gets from the circus and his police job have helped him remain independent of Bruce and unfortunately from the Titans. He keeps in touch and helps them out occasionally , but nothing more than that."

"I see, but why did he blame Bruce for what he did?"

Cyborg paused, he knew some, but not all of the reasons why, so he evaded the answer. "He never really told us why, but it's been a wedge between them ever since.

Starfire tilted her head in consideration, "Did he ever marry?"

Cyborg shook his head, "Nope, never did. There was a short engagement between him and Barbara Gordon, but it didn't work out, for whatever reasons, though it's not something the both of them talk about."

Starfire pulled her knees tighter into herself, she was suddenly having doubts about her demand to speak with Dick Grayson.

"Maybe I was rash in wanting to speak with Dick, maybe I should just to the forgetting about it and continue on as I have and wait for Jason."

Cyborg reached out touched her arm, her only reaction was to look at him sadly. "Star, I'm not gonna tell you one way or the other, the decision is yours, but he will be here on Sunday morning. Think about it this way, it'll give you some time to prepare. I know the emotions are there, no matter how you try to hide them, but trust me on this; you'll hate yourself if you don't speak with him. There's more to this than you're desire to get out of this old mine, I can tell."

Cyborg got up and smiled at her. "How about some pizza? I can get some here pretty quick too."

She nodded her head. "I would like that, thank you Victor."

"Good, let's head to the common room and see what Selena wants, then I'll order it and it'll be teleported here pronto."

"That sounds good, lead the way Victor." Starfire stood up and followed Cyborg to the common room. Her new doubts were still there, but a part of her did want to see Dick Grayson at least one more time.

**Dick Grayson's Apartment**

**Bludhaven**

Dick Grayson couldn't sleep. He stared at the ceiling while he heard the gentle breathing of Catalina Flores next to him. It wasn't the first time she spent the night here, and he hoped not the last. He rolled over and looked at the woman who was now in his life and sighed deeply. Their relationship was good and he was beginning to feel really comfortable with her. They worked well together and she was a fierce investigator and he liked that about her.

He rolled out of bed, being careful not to wake up Catalina and went into the guest bedroom and then went through the hidden panel in the closet to the other apartment he made into his backup operations center. He quickly put on his mask and then turned on the console and contacted the Watch Tower, knowing Wally was pulling duty as the Flash tonight. As expected The Martian Manhunter's face appeared on the console, and eating an Oreo cookie. He quickly put the Oreo down and acknowledged Nightwing's call.

"Yes Nightwing, how may I assist you?"

"J'onn, I need to speak to Wally, is he available."

"I believe that he is, hold on." The Justice League logo appeared on the screen, which was quickly replaced by the visage of the Flash.

"Hey Nightwing what's up? Shouldn't you be…, you know celebrating with that special someone right about now?" The Flash asked, a big smile on his face.

"I think that special someone is all celebrated out at the moment."

A grin from ear to ear appeared on the Flash's face, "Ooh, ain't you da man…"

"Wally, enough, listen, has Arsenal said anything?"

"No, nothing of importance anyway, Wonder Woman used the rope on him and he really doesn't know where she is. He's a bit pissed though, not so much at us, but at Red Hood, says he was used as a decoy."

"I doubt it, he got caught and Jason didn't, oh by the way, the Knights won."

The Flash smirked and connected a custom designed signal scrambler of Cyborg's design. "Good to hear that, I had money on them."

"Is it clear?" Nightwing asked.

"Yep."

"Good, we need to keep Roy put for now. He really doesn't know what is going on and he could cause us more problems if he's free."

"Yeah, Bats plans to keep him here. He's hoping Red Hood will try to rescue him and has the Red X defenses up. Oh and you need to know, the Bat was not happy with that little decoy you came up with, though he believes it was something Red Hood used to throw them off. So you're in the clear still."

"Good, any word from Red Hood?"

"Nope he's gone deep cover like you said he would. He's unpredictable though, and better at hiding than you or Bats."

"He'll show up soon enough, he protects his own and that would include Roy and Kori. He did promise to trust me though, so we'll see."

"Dick, you didn't call me to chit-chat about Jason and Roy did you?"

Dick shook his head, "No I didn't, there's been a new development. Seems Kori wants to see me, she's not happy with the current arrangement, and requested that I speak with her about it."

Wally's face froze, even behind his red cowl mask, Dick could tell he was shocked.

"Wow dude, you going?"

"Yes, on Sunday morning, or that's the plan."

"You sure that's right thing? I mean she might just be luring you into a trap."

Dick smiled and shook his head, "I doubt that Flash, though I do plan to be careful, my contact said she's a bit edgy, not the same girl we used to know, harder and more commanding I believe my contact said."

"Yeah, you better be careful, when she punched me, it felt like a Mack truck hit me. We're talking Superman or Wonder Woman type strength you know."

"Flash, I know all too well, remember I almost married her. I'm not worried about that, but I am worried how it will affect me. I haven't seen her in fourteen years since she left that day and to be frank, there's some emotion there. You don't get someone like her out of your head that easy."

"So you're afraid you're gonna breakdown and cry in front of her like a baby or what?"

Dick grimaced, "For crying out loud Flash, I hope not. I think I have a bit more composure than that, I'm more worried about making a wrong decision concerning her, letting my emotions get the better of me."

"Well then, don't go."

"No, that's not an option, I made a promise, and I plan to keep it. I just hope I do the right thing when I see her."

"So the old feelings are still there huh?"

Dick looked away from the screen, fidgeted a while then looked back at the screen. "You can say that. I thought I was over her, even after she came back, now I don't know. Cat came home with me tonight and the whole time we were making love, I only saw Kori, not Cat. It was all I could do to keep from calling out Kori's name. Wally I'm afraid I'm setting myself up for a fall."

"What about Raven, can't she help?"

"I plan to call her next, but I needed to talk to you first, get this off my chest before I contact Raven; helps me to talk to her when I more relaxed."

"Sure, I'm here for all your emotional needs, wanna a hug and kiss too?"

"From you, no."

Flash suddenly seemed distracted, he looked away from the screen at another on his console then back at Nightwing. "Uh oh, got an alarm, J'onn's calling me…, talk to you later Dick. Tell me how it works out." Then the screen went blank.

Nightwing stared at the console a moment and then punched in the code for Titan's Tower. After a moment the familiar green skinned face of Changeling appeared on the screen.

"Dude, how's it going, it's been a while. What's going on?"

"Hello Gar, things are going well, I made detective today and start my new assignment this coming Tuesday. How about you, is Tim doing well with the new recruits?"

"Tim's great, a lot like you, but more of a nerd. He and Ravager have hit it off though, they make quite a pair. So what do we owe the honor of your call?"

"Well, I actually need to speak to your wife, is Raven available."

"Oh I get it, you want to speak to my lovely bride, alright, no flirting though." Changeling said with a smile.

Nightwing chuckled. "No flirting, just a business call."

"Sure, hold on. Hey babe, you've got an important call from some rich playboy you wanna take it." Changeling turned back to the screen, "Here she comes."

Raven now appeared on the screen. "Hello Nightwing, would this call be about our mutual friend."

Nightwing nodded, "Yes it is."

"Would you like to speak privately?"

Again nodding his head, "Yes that would be best I think."

"Sure. Gar, I have to speak with Nightwing in private. I won't be gone long, I promise."

Changeling looked at his wife and then at Nightwing. "What's going on? Are you two up to something?"

"No, it's business, but I can't have prying ears and there's plenty around here. I'll tell you when I get back."

Changeling's ears drooped, "Mine aren't prying, see."

"I know, but there are plenty of others and some are more dangerous than others. Don't worry I'll tell you all about it."

"Alright, but watch him, he's a shifty one."

"Thanks Gar, he needs me right now or he wouldn't have called. Get the kids in bed for me." Raven kissed Changeling on the cheek then disappeared in one of her portals.

"She's on her way Dick, should be there soon. Don't keep her too long I've got plans tonight."

Nightwing chuckled. "I'm sure you do lover boy."

As he said it, the familiar screech of a Raven portal sounded behind him and Raven stepped out of it.

"She's here Gar, talk to you later." He turned off the connection before Gar could protest too much.

Raven walked up to Nightwing as he stood up to greet her. "Thanks for coming Raven."

"Anytime Dick, now tell me about your feelings for Starfire."

* * *

**For you kids out there, yes running into or know you're going to meet an old flame again can make one very nervous. It's even worse when you're married, because you're afraid of how things will turn out. Thankfully nothing usually happens, but you never know.**


	11. Distractions

**Sorry for the long wait, my hand surgery and craziness at work held me up. **

_**The characters belong to DC and Time-Warner, and I in no way own them or plan to make money off of them, but the story belongs to me.**_

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Distractions**

The session with Raven was a real help for Dick Grayson. She helped him to accept the reality that he still had deep feelings for Starfire and by accepting this was able to come to grips with these long suppressed emotions. Dick realized that he truly had never gotten over Starfire and instead repressed any feelings he had for her by trying to push them aside and driving them deeper into his subconscious. Raven reminded him how much Starfire was a part of his life and his development during his Teen Titans days. It was Starfire that helped him to mature and be more accepting of his emotions, to learn to open up and to trust others, to help him become independent of Batman and be his own man and hero by taking on the identity of Nightwing. That he had been in denial for the past fourteen years, and his taking on several paramours after he was sure Starfire would not come back was a negative way of dealing with missing her, similar to drug or alcohol abuse, but with sex instead.

He felt calmer now and less nervous about his meeting with Starfire on Sunday, but now he had to make it through today and spend his day with Catalina. So far things were going pretty well. They were attending the grand reopening of the Gotham City Boardwalk, one of many which had been destroyed by Hurricane Sandy the previous year. Along with the boardwalk the beachside amusement park was reopened including an exact replica of the famous Comet roller coaster built with as many salvaged parts from the original as possible. There was also a weekend long free concert by many famous bands and performers ranging from Pop, Rock, Country, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Metal.

Of course this was not only a date, but a duty. The Wayne Foundation was the primary financier of the rebuilding of the Gotham Boardwalk and amusement park and it was required that he make an appearance along with Bruce Wayne. He figured though if he had to be here, he'd be here with someone he wanted to be with and have fun too. He was glad that Catalina was able to get off today and come with him, now he could enjoy himself, or so he hoped.

His thoughts turned back to Sunday and his meeting with Starfire. What he would say, what would she say? He hoped it wouldn't turn into a fight, Starfire wasn't one to hold grudges, but she wasn't one to forget either. He hoped that he would remain calm and not lose his cool and if it came to that Vic, Selena and Raven, who was coming with him, were there to hopefully defuse the situation should things get out of hand. He was lost in his thoughts when he felt a tug at his elbow. He turned to see Catalina with a concerned look on her face.

"What's the matter Dick? You've seem distracted for the past few minutes."

He forced a smile and quickly thought of something to say, "Oh just thinking about this place, how it looks the same, but it's not. It's all too new looking. The old feel of the place is gone.

She smiled back, "I wouldn't know, we never got to come here when I was child. I only saw the pictures. So I take it you used to come here often."

His smile was more genuine now. "I did, but it wasn't a place for the ward of Bruce Wayne to hang out. When I was old enough to have my motorcycle license I would ride over here and meet Wally to hang out, you know to have fun, pick up girls that sort of thing. Didn't do it too much though, Bruce always frowned on it and it wasn't long before I moved to Jump City to get out of Gotham for a while. I wanted to be in a place with sunshine without all the gloom and portent Gotham has."

He didn't tell her that it was one of the Joker's favorite hideouts too, especially the old abandoned Fun House and was the real reason Bruce frowned upon him coming down here.

"Gotham can feel that way, the old Gothic buildings and the perpetually overcast sky…," Catalina paused, looking thoughtfully at Dick.

"Something else is bothering you too Dick, I can tell. What is it?" She implored.

Dick nodded, "Yeah, you're right. I have to head out tomorrow morning, early, Wayne business related but confidential. That's all I can really say."

Catalina's mouth formed an "O" and looked away. "Oh, I see. When will you be coming back?"

"That evening if not sooner, I have to work the Sunday evening shift, so I won't see you again until Monday afternoon. You wanna catch dinner then, say around 6:00 that evening?"

Catalina nodded, "Yes that would be nice, can't wait." She said with a half-hearted smile.

Dick noticed Catalina seemed down about him heading out tomorrow, he couldn't say too much or it would raise suspicions and with her being an FBI agent, it was the last thing he needs.

She looked back up at him, "Dick, why didn't you say anything about this earlier?"

Dick refrained from swallowing hard, _think Grayson think, _"Well, I found out last night while you were sleeping. I couldn't sleep and got up and checked my email, and that is when I got the notification. I really can't say too much though, not now anyway."

Catalina pursed her lips in thought. "Ok, I'll leave it alone. I guess it comes with dating a Wayne."

Dick chuckled, "Yeah, you can say that. Listen, I won't be gone that long and I'll call you as soon as I get back, ok?"

"Ok…," she paused as if in though, then turned to him, "How about I stay at your place then, while your gone?"

He saw where this was going and he'd already planned for it. "Sure, not a problem, I will tell you that I have to leave at six in the morning, so I can't stay up too late. I should be home in the afternoon, I'll get some rest then, I'll need to go to work. You won't get to see too much of me."

She thought about it some. "You know, I should probably stay at my place tonight anyway, I haven't been there in a couple of days and I do need to take care of some things."

Inside Dick was relieved. "Ok, sounds like a plan, I'll call you when I get back, promise. Maybe we can spend a little time together then."

"Ok, works for me. So…, what do we do now?"

"Well for me I need hit the little boys room, that Big Gulp has come back to haunt me."

"Ok, I'll wait for you at that bench over there." Catalina said pointing to a bench next to a souvenir store."

"Good, then we'll head over to the stage, make my appearance with "Dear Old Dad," then have some fun." Dick said with a playful smile.

"Sure, see ya in minute." Catalina then sauntered off to the bench as Dick hightailed it over to the restroom.

He was about finished relieving himself when someone stepped up to the urinal next to him.

"Hello Dick, fancy meeting you here."

Dick quickly turned towards the man that spoke to him, recognizing him right away. "Dammit Jason, what are you doing here?"

"What, I can't use a public restroom?"

"You know what I mean, Bruce is here, If he sees you…"

Jason grinned, "He won't see me bro, I don't plan to stay around too long anyway. I knew you would be here from the society page of the Gotham Times. So I waited for the right time so I could talk to you."

Dick zipped up his pants and walked over to the sink, "Ok, what is it you want?"

Jason smiled mischievously, "You know, I can't believe you never knew it was me that took the Red X suit. As smart as you are, I thought you'd have figured out a long time ago."

Dick gave Jason an irritated look while he washed his hands. "That's not why you're here Jason, get to the point."

"Geez, you can be as bad as Dad, you know that." He said with a smirk, "Ok, listen, what are you planning to do with Kory, you know you can't keep her hid in the mine forever?"

"No I don't, and what I do with her is not your concern right now."

"Oh I think it is bro, you see, she and I have grown close and I'm not gonna let you keep her for too long."

"For one thing, if you know anything about Starfire, nobody _keeps _her, she is definitely her own woman, and what do you mean by 'close' Jason?" Dick said narrowing his eyes at him, while he dried his hands.

Jason chuckled, "Don't worry, not that close, but close enough that I think of her as a good friend. Oh and you're right, nobody keeps Starfire, not if they want to live. You need to know though that I don't care if it was you that warned me about the Justice League raid and set up the refuge for her, I still don't trust you."

Dick shook his head as he glared at his adopted brother. "You know, you're more like Batman than you think Jason, but to ease your mind, I'm going to meet with her tomorrow about moving her to a better location; one that the Justice League will ignore for the time being."

Jason raised an eyebrow, "Oh really, gonna reconnect with your old flame huh? Well don't get your hopes all up, she's changed, she's not that sweet naïve alien girl that you grew up with. She's meaner and tougher now, and she has no love for you."

"Thanks Jason, anything else you have to tell me. Not like it matters. Listen, I'm in a relationship now ok. Do I still have feelings for Starfire? Yes I do, I'd be lying to say that I didn't, but I can't live in the past. Do I find her working with you repulsive? You bet I do, knowing that you are Red X and Red Hood only makes it worse. Will I find myself nervous around her? Most likely, but I can't worry about that now. So please don't try to play games with me. If you want to start something with her fine, that's between you and her ok. All I want to do is protect her from Bruce, he plans to turn her over to the Lanterns who will turn her over to her husband so he can execute her in the most humiliating way possible. He never forgave her for giving her heart to a lowly human. I won't allow that to happen to her even if it means I break every law on Earth and in this galaxy to do so, I care for her too much for that. She deserves to be free and enjoy the rest of her life how she sees fit. You got any problems with that?"

Jason stared at him, then looked away, his arrogant stance visibly deflating, "No, I want to protect her to Dick, she's a special person. I'll play along, and help you anyway I can, but don't expect me roll over and play dead either."

Dick smirked at Jason, "I don't expect you too, matter of fact I'm hoping you can cause enough distractions to keep Bruce off her scent."

Jason grinned heartily at that. "Now that's something I can do Dick. Time for me to start doing some distracting."

Jason finished drying his hands as Dick watched him go out the door. He shook his head and sighed, thinking to himself, what wasted potential. Trained by the best and could be the best of us, but had rather work as an assassin and thief, killing the villains instead of bringing them to justice. Why Bruce tolerated him, he would never understand, in his own way Bruce must love all his adopted sons, but he sure had strange way of showing it.

Dick stepped out of the restroom and found Catalina waiting for him where she said she would on the bench by the souvenir store. He walked up to her and held out his hand to her.

"You ready to go hob-nob with the elite for a while then have some fun?"

Catalina looked up at him and smiled. "Yes I am, I thought you got lost there for a moment. Is everything ok?"

"Yep, I'm good, just crowded in there. The turnout of the re-opening looks to be better than expected."

She raised an eyebrow then took his hand as he helped her up. "Well then let's go hob-nob."

**Dick Grayson's Apartment A Few Hours Later**

He'd dropped Catalina off at the house she shared with her brother, then prepared all his equipment for his trip early tomorrow morning. He relaxed for a while and then checked the Justice League and Titan's networks to see what was going on. He noticed that there had been a Red X sighting in Metropolis along with a major technology heist. Good to see that Jason was keeping up his part. There was a report of a new suspected energy signal deep in the Congo that was being investigated for signs of Starfire. Good to see Cyborg was keeping the League guessing, but he knew that would only go so far. Eventually Bruce, J'onn or Kal El would catch on. Hopefully his plan would give them enough time to get her to a safer location. Oh and there was some Inter Gang action going down in New Orleans, Wally, along with Wonder Woman and few others were working that one. This must have been the issue that Wally had to hang for last night.

Dick smiled at the thought of Wally working with Diana. She wasn't known for tolerating a less than serious attitude when it came to work, and Wally had already received a few scoldings from the Amazon princess. He was lucky he could out run her. He shook his head and smiled then turned signed off from the console and got ready for bed. Tomorrow he needed to be as emotionally ready as he could be, which meant rested.

He was glad Raven was coming along since she was providing the 'transportation' to the refuge. He'd originally planned to use the teleporter, but that could be traced, so Raven came up with the idea transporting them by one of her portals since Herald was unavailable. Her portals were untraceable by any technology the Justice League has, unless Zatana knew the exact time Raven was creating a portal to cast a tracer spell, they were safe.

Along with her ability to create portals, she could also help his emotional state if needed. He was already nervous and thankfully Raven had given Robin a sleep charm to help him sleep but allowing him to wake up when needed. He took the charm and placed it around his neck and soon fell into a deep sleep, one with no dreams.

He was awakened by the sound of his alarm clock and he promptly got up, feeling completely refreshed. He jumped in the shower, shaved and once he was ready dressed in his Nightwing costume. He then went into his sanctuary and waited for Raven. He didn't have to wait long before the familiar screech of one of Raven's portals opened in front of him with her stepping out in full uniform.

"Good to see you Raven, are you ready?"

"Likewise Robin, but give me a few moments to meditate so I can open another portal. You look well rested enough, good to see the charm worked," Raven said as she prepared to meditate.

"The question is, are you ready Dick?" She asked looking him directly in the eye.

"As ready as I can be Raven."

She gave him a characteristic smirk, "Well that'll have to do then. Just give me a moment."

Nightwing wing sat back down and waited. He read the major news outlet websites while he waited, but was starting to feel antsy. He started fidgeting about the console, tossing and juggling different objects he found on the work space. He was so nervous, a tennis ball he was juggling fell out of his hand and on to Raven's head.

Raven quickly looked up giving him a dirty look, but sensed the nervousness in him. "Calm down Dick, it's not like you're taking her out on a date you know."

He chuckled nervously, "I know Raven, but still, we didn't part on the best of terms and now fourteen years later I'm seeing her again. I can't help but be a little nervous."

Raven shook her head, "I'm almost done here, once I am I'll help you calm down, but not too much ok."

"Yeah sure, I'll not to disturb you." He said and tried to stay still.

After a few moments Raven stood up from her lotus position. "There, I'm done now."

Dick stood up, "Good, let's get this over with."

"Not so fast Dick, come here." Raven stated.

Dick stepped over to her and she gently put her hands at his temples, rubbing them in slow circles. "Relax, it will be alright. You won't be alone. I'll be there with Vic and Selena, so just relax."

Raven cast a minor relaxation spell on Dick as she massaged his temples. He could feel the tension abating and took deep breath.

"There you go Dick. You're good and relaxed and now I'm ready to transport us both there. Hold my hand and do not let go."

"Sure Raven, got it." Dick said as he grasped Raven's hand.

"Azeroth, Metrion, Zinthos." Raven began her mantra and Dick felt the palpable cold of Raven's black energy surround him. He closed his eyes and held on. In a few moments the cold and heaviness of the black energy subsided and then he was in a lit room with metal walls with various high tech equipment scattered about in different places in the room. They both stepped out of the portal, to be greeted by Cyborg.

"Good to see you could make it Dick and Raven. The princess was a little stir crazy yesterday, but she finally went to sleep. I think she's as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs as my Grams used to say.

"Really, I doubt she'd be that nervous to see me again. It's been fourteen years, surely…"

"And you haven't been Dick?" Raven piped in. "What is it with you two? No don't answer that, I know what's wrong with you. Her on the other hand, I never understood what she ever saw in you anyway." She added with just a hint of a smile.

"Oh c'mon Raven, you told me yourself you had a bit of a crush on me for little while." Dick retorted, winking at her.

"'Little while' is the key term there clueless." Raven teased back. He was right though, she did have a major crush on him back in their early Teen Titans days, but it was evident he only had eyes for Starfire and Starfire felt the same about him. It was only because of his stubbornness and Batman's ridiculous conditioning that kept him from finally admitting his feelings for Starfire back then.

They all laughed, then Dick became serious. "Well we're not here to tell stories Vic, is Starfire ready to meet with me?"

"Selena's in Starfire's quarters with her, helping her. Like I said she's nervous. I'll see if she is ready for you.

Cyborg turned and headed through a door to the living quarters.

"Not much longer Dick, are you ready?"

Dick turned to Raven, a look of calm on his face. "I guess we'll soon find out."

A few moments later, Cyborg returned with Selena. "Dick, she'll see you now, but only you. Raven has to stay here."

Dick took a deep breath then sighed, "Alright, no sense in making more of deal of this than it already is. Lead the way Vic."

"Awright then, follow me." Cyborg turned and headed back to the door and Nightwing followed a few steps behind him.

Raven turned to Selena, "So is she ok? She's not planning killing him is she? Her emotions are all over the place."

Selena smiled, "Oh I don't think she plans to kill him, or at least not yet. She's nervous though. She preferred to see him alone and the room's not far, in case things take a turn for the worse."

"Azar, I hope not."

**TTTT**

Nightwing followed Cyborg down the corridor to what was apparently a common recreation room. Cyborg stopped at the door and motioned for Nightwing step into the room.

"Here we are, she's waiting in there. Be nice ya hear me."

"Yeah I do, and I will. Thanks Vic."

He hesitated for a moment, hoping this wasn't a trap, then cleared his throat entered into the room. When he stepped in what he saw nearly took his breath away. In front of him was Starfire, Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran, his onetime lover and fiancé and the woman who's heart he foolishly broke so many years ago. He took in the sight before him unable to move or breath. He forgot how beautiful she was, even if all he saw was the back of her, with her red hair flowing nearly down to her ankles. She slowly turned around to face him and he was even more in shock. Her face was more mature, the face of a woman, not a girl and her body was even more svelte and ample than when they were together. Gone was the familiar crop top and mini-skirt. It was replaced by strips of Tamaranean hyper-steel alloy that barely covered her ample breasts, and a barely there bikini bottom with a hyper-steel alloy belt. All that remained of her old uniform was the familiar gorget on her neck and shoulders, gauntlets and boots. She was a sight to behold. While he stood there beholding her radiance he was mentally kicking himself for being such a fool to break her heart.

She looked at him, tilting her head twice, then smiled shyly at him, "Greetings Richard."

Nightwing shook his head quickly and returned a nervous smile. "Hey Star."

* * *

**And we'll end the chapter here. No need to go longer and a nice tease for the next chapter. I again apologize for this taking so long, but work, hand surgery, family needs and being in a quandary about where to go with the story have kept me from writing this chapter. I still have some ideas to work out, but I do know where the next chapter is going. This is a transition point in the story and things should start rolling along. **

**The tension between the two of them is thick enough to cut with a knife, and the next chapter won't lessen it any. Until next time, **

**Hammer of Oblivion.**


	12. Confessions

**The former lovers finally meet.**

_**The characters belong to DC and Time-Warner, and I in no way own them or plan to make money off of them, but the story belongs to me.**_

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Confessions**

The silence was awkward as they both stood there looking around, away from and through each other, but not directly at each other. Nightwing shifted his weight from one leg to the other as he tried to find something to say. Starfire shifted nervously too, casting furtive glances toward Nightwing, and turning away if she thought he was looking towards her.

They both felt the pent up emotions from fourteen years of absence, caused by his betrayal. Starfire was using all her discipline of her warrior's training to hold back the combination of feelings swelling inside her. Before her stood the man she both hated and loved at the same time, the man who owned her heart and crushed it in a fleeting moment of passion, the same man she wanted to kill, yet hold in her arms again. She swallowed hard and used all her spirit to bring herself to regal bearing.

Nightwing fought to bring down his heart rate, and thought of what Raven told him. He could feel Raven touching his mind to calm him down. He then glanced quickly at Starfire and noted she was trying hard to strike a regal and intimidating pose. The tension was only going to get worse if they continued to stand here and not speak, so he decided to remove his mask to ease some of the tension. He also wanted it to be a gesture of being honest and open with her. He had nothing to hide and he hoped she didn't either. He slowly and carefully reached up and removed the mask, placing in one of his many utility compartments.

Starfire saw what he did and did everything not to look into his eyes. His eyes were always captivating to her and she wanted to avoid them captivating her again. She closed her eyes and opened them slowly then took a deep breath before she spoke.

"I would like to thank you for coming here at my request Richard."

Nightwing took a step forward and bowed his head toward her, "You're Welcome Starfire, Cyborg said you requested that I come and here I am. I understand you are not pleased with the accommodations."

The flatness or formality, she was not sure which, in Nightwing's answer irritated Starfire somewhat. "I take it you do not wish to be here then?"

Nightwing was slightly taken aback by her answer, but he went with it, no sense in being dishonest with her.

"Honestly, I didn't expect for you to make such a request. I was surprised to say the least."

Starfire tilted her head and was curious to hear what he had to say, "Why would you be surprised Richard at my request?"

Nightwing raised his eyebrows, not expecting her to ask that question. "Well, I didn't think you wanted to see me again after what happened, especially since you reached out to Red X, or Red Hood, whatever he's going by at the moment, instead of those who you once called friends. It seemed pretty obvious to me that you were purposely avoiding us. I knew you were back, Wally told me and I think you knew he would, but I respected your choice enough to allow you to associate with whoever you wanted too."

Starfire turned and paced for a few moments then stopped to speak again.

"So Richard, you do understand why I requested for you to come here then?"

Nightwing nodded. "Yes, Cyborg explained to me that you were not happy with the accommodations and I can understand why. Since you are a creature of the light and need to have the sun, this dark old mine is not the place for you."

"Then why did you send me here?" She asked

"It was the most secure place I knew to send you at short notice, were the Justice League couldn't trace your energy. It was never meant to be permanent."

"Oh, I see." She raised her hand to her chin contemplatively and then looked back at Nightwing.

"Why did you alert Jason of the raid? I was surprised when Cyborg told me who contacted Jason. I would have thought you would have participated in the raid."

Nightwing smiled, "Because I of what I knew would happen to you if you were caught. I had a private conversation with your sister and she told me what happened to you and how your own husband exiled you for protecting a peaceful tribe of Gordanians. It sounded like something the Starfire I used to know would do. She also told me that your husband, General Ph'yzzon, was not happy that you survived long enough to escape Vegan space and are now out of his reach. He planned to have you killed and sent mercenaries after you, but you were further ahead of them than he planned. You see he wants you dead, so he can legally marry your sister. Blackfire believes that he'll have her killed and claim the throne for himself. Believe it or not, but Blackfire asked me to protect you at all costs. As long as you are alive Ph'yzzon cannot marry her per Tarmaranean law, unless there is absolute proof of you death."

Starfire tilted her head, then looked down, turned away and then took a few steps before stopping again, she then turned back towards Nightwing, with tears in her eyes.

"What Blackfire says is true, as long as I live, my marriage to Ph'yzzon cannot be dissolved. Marriages of State are permanent, and can only be nullified by the death of one of the spouses. I knew he grew to hate me over time, but not to the extent that he wanted me dead. Then again, it would benefit him to marry my sister, as she is the Grand Ruler and by Tamaranean law with my death, she would have to marry him to prevent a possible civil war."

Nightwing pursed his lips, "Also, to be honest Starfire, I couldn't let the Justice League capture you. Batman planned to turn you over to the Green Lantern Corps, who would then turn you over to the Tamaranean authorities, and once you were returned home Ph'yzzon would have you summarily executed for inciting sedition on New Tamaran. Apparently there was a small rebellion there when you exiled and he blames it on you. I couldn't allow that to happen to you, even with all that has happened between us, you deserve better than that, I still care for you."

Starfire allowed herself a tiny smile at Nightwing, "Thank you Richard, it makes me glad to hear that."

Nightwing relaxed a little and allowed himself to smile back at her. "Now how about I tell you about where I wish to relocate you?"

Starfire nodded for him to go on.

"Ok then, I plan to send you to the last place the Justice League would think to look for you and that is Titans Tower in Jump City."

Starfire looked at him confused, "Why there, how will I be safe there?"

Nightwings grinned mischievously at her, "Because of all the other superheroes there, your energy signal will blend in better with theirs and Titans Tower is outside of the Justice League's jurisdiction, they cannot touch you there without the leader of the Titan's permission."

Starfire seemed genuinely surprised, "I thought you were no longer the leader of the Titans and that you left some time ago."

Nightwing shook his head, "You're right, I'm not, but Robin is along with Raven and Garfield who goes by Changeling now. Raven has agreed to grant you refuge, until we can straighten out this mess with you and what happened in Qurac."

Starfire looked down and hugged herself, "Oh yes that, I am truly sorry for what happened, but I was thinking as Tamaranean warrior and did not consider the repercussions. Jason thoroughly explained to me the problems with what I did afterwards. I understand that the Bialyan's are being blamed and a war may start because of my indiscretion. But why would a new Robin, Raven and you want to protect me after that, and who is this new Robin?"

"Because you are among friends Starfire, none of us want you to see you thrown to the wolves. I don't know how this will all play out, but I and the Titans will protect you no matter what. Also the new Robin is my newest brother, you'll meet him soon enough. He's always been fascinated with you and knows enough of you history to agree with me that our father is wrong about you."

Starfire's eyes lit up and she almost flew over to hug Nightwing, but stopped herself short as she thought better of it.

"Thank you Richard… I accept your proposition. I look forward to meeting this new Robin" she said instead.

Nightwing nearly choked on her choice of words, then answered her back, and called her by her given name. "You're welcome Kory."

The awkward silence between them came back and the tension now was thick enough to cut with a knife. Nightwing fidgeted about before he spoke again.

"Um… well, I'll go get Raven then… She'll open a portal and transfer the both of you to Titans Tower." He said as he turned to leave the room.

Starfire watched him begin to walk away, but she had to know now, she may never get this chance again.

"Richard, please wait!" She called out to him.

He stopped and turned back towards her, "Yeah Kory… what is it."

She nearly lost her nerve, but she used all her inner strength to embolden her, "Richard… I must know, why?"

Nightwing had a bewildered look on his face, "Why what Kory?"

She fidgeted nervously, tapping her fingers together, then looked at him.

"Richard… why did you betray me… us?" She haltingly asked with tears forming in her eyes.

Nightwing had been afraid this would come up and the look on Starfire's face broke his heart. All those years of pent up emotion were trying to bust through, but he held them back and took a deep breath, then gestured to one of the armchairs in the room.

"May I take a seat Kory?"

She nodded and she took a seat herself across from him.

Nightwing took off his gloves then ran his hands through his hair then rubbed the bridge of his nose and his eyes. He opened his eyes and looked at Starfire.

"Starfire from the moment it happened I wanted to apologize and beg your forgiveness, but you were gone before I ever got the chance. I wanted to go after you, chase you down, but I had no way of chasing after you. The T-Ship was grounded for maintenance, The Justice League wouldn't loan me a Javelin, the Lanterns wouldn't agree to help me and Bruce disabled the Batplane to where it would take weeks to fix it. I knew you went back to Tamaran and tried to contact you there, but I was intercepted by a very angry Galfore that told me in no uncertain terms that if I ever tried to contact you again, then he would send his most elite assassins to kill me in the most vile and worst way possible. So I hoped that after the smoke cleared you might reach out to me, but that never happened and now here we are fourteen years later."

She looked flatly at him now, "You have not told me why though, what made you sleep with Barbara Gordon the night before our wedding?"

Nightwing closed his eyes and sighed, he knew this day would come one day and now here it is. He opened his eyes again and cleared his throat to speak.

"Starfire, Kory… there is not just one reason, but I take the blame for most of it. The truth is Kory, is first of all I wasn't ready. I thought I was, and I knew you were, but I was only twenty at the time, still young by Earth standards. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to marry you and supporting a marriage was not a problem being who I am, but a part of me wanted to wait and Bruce knew that.

Starfire creased her brow and tilted her head, "Then why did you not tell me this, I would have waited as long as you wanted, we were already together, all you had to do was tell me."

Nightwing blinked his eyes as he looked at her, "You would have waited? I thought you wanted to be married, I mean you talked about it often before I asked you and you seemed excited, I thought it would hurt you or disappoint you if I said I wanted to wait."

Now she smiled kindly at him, "Richard, of course I was excited, Earth marriages are so much more romantic than Tamaranean ones. The idea of being your wife was my fantasy, but it was important to me for us to marry when you wanted too. Had you come to me and we talked about it, I would have been the understanding."

Nightwing shook his head and smiled at Starfire, "I wished I knew, but I was still dumb about things then. Thing is though, that's not the whole reason, because I'm not sure if anyone is completely ready on the day of their wedding. You see, Bruce was aware of my 'jitters' though I wasn't and he still didn't want an alien for a daughter-in-law no matter how much of a help you had been to me and he thought I was too young. So he took matters into his hands and used one of Poison Ivy's plant compounds, a mixture of scopolamine, psilocybin, and some other extracts that affect will-power and memory. He invited the Gordon's over along with some other Gotham City dignitaries for cocktails to celebrate our upcoming wedding after the rehearsal dinner. He then added the concoction to both mine and Barbara's drinks then made the suggestion to both of us be alone. All I remember from that point on was us laughing at some stupid things, then the rest is jumbled, and the next thing I remember is me waking up to a very upset Starfire finding me in bed with Babs. I'll tell you now though, I'm not blaming Bruce for all of it, I should have known he was up to something when made sure Barbara came over to what was a small private cocktail party of Wayne family friends, but I was caught up in everything that was going on."

"So this concoction as you call it, caused you to commit your indiscretion with Barbara?" Starfire asked.

Nightwing nodded his head and continued.

"You can say that, Poison Ivy uses them to control her victims and afterwards they aren't aware of what happened. Of course Bruce would have some in the cave, he has a lot of things from villains and heroes alike to use against them if he has to. You know Bruce confessed to me that he never intended for you to catch us together, his plan was for me to see what happened and hopefully postpone the wedding. Your showing up unexpectedly kind of threw a wrench in his scheme."

Starfire hung her head down, her eyes closed.

"Are you ok Kory?"

She looked back at him, her eyes slightly aglow, causing Nightwing to tense up.

"Richard, thank you for sharing this with me, now I know I should not have run away, but I was so upset that I didn't know what else to do. What I saw that morning, the day before our wedding was more than I could bear. What upset me the most was that you shared with Barbara something you would not share with me until our wedding night. You told me you wanted to abstain from sexual intimacy until we were married and I respected that wish, though it was not the Tamaranean way. When I discovered that you shared with Barbara what you refused to share with me, I was filled with hurt and rage and I had to leave to keep from killing the both of you."

Starfire paused, the glow in her eyes dying down. She looked back up at Nightwing, her eyes tired and very sad.

"To be honest Richard, I did not intend to stay permanently on Tamaran. My intention was to go there for a while and do the cooling off, then come back and talk with you about what happened. Unfortunately Galfore refused my request to return and put me under guard until I came to my senses. He said my time on Earth had addled my emotions and corrupted my Tamaranean spirit. He told me that he tolerated my behavior on Earth because of his love for me, but now that I was back, I needed to behave as the Princess of Tamaran and no longer indulge myself with such foolishness. At first I wanted contact you, but it was forbidden, all contact or news from Earth was forbidden and over time I learned to think of our time as a pleasant memory, but nothing more. After a time I married my original betrothed Prince Kar'ras of Kallappatt, Tamaran's southern continent and I was happy. It was a marriage of friends, but not one of lovers though, because his heart belonged to a woman he could not marry and my heart belonged to you. He later died defending Tamaran and years later I had to marry General Ph'yzzon out of duty. In all that time, I grew to hate you, Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy and all the others, because of the sorrow that had become my life."

Starfire stood up from her chair and began to pace around the room, tapping her chin.

"When I was exiled because of an act of compassion, I came back to Earth because I had no place to go. I resolved not to seek you or the other Titans out, and had used my Okarran training to push my memories of you and the others into the depths of my mind."

Starfire stopped pacing, turning towards Nightwing, and clenching her fists.

"Do you understand why I hated you Richard, why I did not want to do the seeing of you again after I returned?"

Nightwing nodded, "I believe I do Kory, you once told me that you gave me your heart. You also told me that with Tamaraneans that it was forever. I didn't understand then, and I'm still not sure if I do now, but it affected you in a way no human could understand, right?"

Starfire relaxed, "Yes, I gave my heart to you, a very foolish thing to do. Because of that I could not have a loving relationship or marriage with my second husband and he grew to hate me for it. His hatred of me became too much to bear, our relationship was cold, and my failure to give him a child made it colder. If I had it all to do over again, I would have never fallen in love with you or any other human and kept our relationship as you wanted it to be at first as nothing more than friends and colleagues."

Nightwing looked down at his clasped hands, speaking quietly, "I wouldn't change a thing Kory."

Starfire tilted her head, her forehead creased in disbelief, "What…"

Nightwing looked back up at her, "I wouldn't change a thing Kory, except for declining Bruce's invitation like I wanted too. You were the best thing to happen to me after I arrived in Jump City. You were my best friend and my closest confidant, and I let you down on more than one occasion, yet you stood by me. Because of that I grew to love you and wanted to be with you forever, then that awful day happened and I lost you. I never thought I would see you again and now fourteen years later you're back, and here we are."

Starfire slowly turned, her mouth slightly agape, "What are you saying Richard?"

Nightwing slowly shook his head, "I'm not sure Kory… I'm just amazed that we're here, talking in the same room. I thought I'd never see you again."

"I see… Richard, may I ask you a question?" Starfire asked tentatively.

Nightwing shrugged, "Sure, go ahead…"

"Do you still love me?"

Nightwing nearly choked at the question. He stood up, and ran his hands through his hair. He could feel Starfire's eyes watching his every move, as if looking for the answer in his movements.

"Kory… Star… I'll always have love for you. You'll always have a piece of me, and it's why I now understand what you said about giving me your heart. It's been fourteen years though…, and well… What I'm trying to say is I'm no longer in love with you. I will always be there for you if you need me though, and I hope we can be friends again."

A smile curled on Starfire's lips, "Richard, your words mean much to me and it pleases me that you do understand. You are correct that fourteen years is a long time and has brought about changes in both of us. I too will always have love for you, there is no way that I cannot, but I too am no longer in love. The time, the distance, the marriages and being among my people again have changed me as well, though I think we can be friends again. Yes, I would like that."

Nightwing relaxed and smiled back at her. "Well then, how about we get you out of here. Raven is waiting to take you to Titans Tower and I have to get back so I can get ready for my last night shift at work."

"Oh that is right, Victor said you are a police office in Bludhaven and you made detective. I see you are doing what you wanted. Do you like it?"

Nightwing nodded, "Yeah, I enjoy working on the force and I work with some good people. Bludhaven is a tough and corrupt city, nothing like Jump City, though it's more like Gotham on a beer budget."

"That is Good Richard."

"Thanks, you ready to go?" He said gesturing for the door.

"Yes, I would also like to see Raven." She said and started to float a little.

The sight of her floating made Nightwing smile, "It's good to see you again Kory."

She smiled back, "It is good to see you again Richard." Then she floated over to him and hugged him.

"Thank you Richard for understanding and being a friend."

Nightwing was shocked at first then he hugged her back.

"No problem Kory, I hope we can get this all worked out and you can be free again."

Starfire slowly released him and floated back a little from him a bright smile on her face, "I am ready to go now Richard."

"Well, then let's go."

* * *

**Next Chapter, Titans Tower.**

**I will say this was a difficult chapter to write. Trying to capture the emotions, tensions and angst between the two was hard at times. **

**I am following some comic lore here and is based on an issue where the Titans set up Dick and Kory on a date and she asked him if he still loved her and he basically told her that he was no longer in love with her. Not that he didn't have love for her as friend, just that he was not in love with her, he had moved on. So I chose to do that here. **


	13. Titans Tower

**Starfire gets to meet the new Teen Titans. Long chapter too.**

_**The characters belong to DC and Time-Warner, and I in no way own them or plan to make money off of them, but the story belongs to me.**_

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Titans Tower**

Starfire looked around the room that she had not seen in fourteen years. She was surprised how much the common area of Titans Tower had stayed the same in all those years. There were some differences, instead of the familiar blue there was more yellow in the room, the technology was updated and the sofa was larger than before, but the feel of the room was the same to her; a feeling of youth and energy.

The trip through Raven's portal brought back memories too, some good and some bad, and she concentrated hard to control them. She had to admit to herself though that it was good to see Raven again. In her time on Earth, Raven became a surrogate sister to her. She regretted that for all the time she was gone she had taught herself to hate Raven along with the other Titans that she felt betrayed her along with Nightwing. Now that she and Nightwing were clear concerning their feelings, she no longer wanted to hate them, but to befriend them again.

She scanned the room, taking note of the other, no newer Teen Titans. There was one that looked like a red devil, a green skinned girl with reddish hair and wearing a cape and blue skirt, a blonde girl wearing what looked like Wonder Woman regalia but she also had on a pair of jeans, a well-muscled boy wearing a black T-shirt with a superman logo on it, a girl in an outfit that reminded her of Slade and…, _X'hal _a young man dressed like Robin.

She glanced over at Nightwing, a curious look on her face and he returned it with a knowing smile.

"Starfire, I'd like you to meet the newest Robin and adopted brother Tim Drake. He is learning to be the leader of the Titans under the tutelage of Raven and Changeling." Nightwing said gesturing towards Robin.

Starfire reached out her hand to grasp the younger Robin's, "Greetings young Robin, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Robin grasped her hand in return, but stammered out his response, "Um…, uh…, it's uh…, nice to meet you too, Starfire."

Starfire looked around the room as if she were looking for someone.

"What's wrong Starfire?" Nightwing asked.

"I do not see Beast Boy, I mean Changeling here. I thought that he and Raven were married?"

Raven touched Starfire on the shoulder, "He's at Steve and Rita's with the kids. They always visit with the children at their west coast home every other weekend if possible and he drove over there to pick them up. He'll be back here later today; he was excited to see you again."

"Oh good, I am glad that I did not miss him. I would like to see him again as well," Starfire said.

"How old are your children Raven?"

A genuine smile crossed Raven's face, "The oldest, Arianna is ten and Seth is 8. They're quite the handful too."

"Do they stay here, in the Tower?" Starfire asked.

"No, we actually have a house near Steve and Rita's on the coast, but out of the city. It affords us some privacy, and a place for the kids to play. It's near enough to their grandparents and here, though they do like hanging out here with the other Titans."

Tim coughed to get Starfire's attention. "If you don't mind me saying, you are prettier than the pictures I've seen of you."

Starfire giggled, smiling pleasantly back at Robin, "Why thank you young Robin. And what pictures are you speaking of?"

"Why the ones we have in our memorial room, it has pictures and mementos of all the members of the Teen Titans. Would you like to see it?"

Starfire looked contemplative, then nodded her head, "Why yes, I believe I would like to see this room of memorials. Would you like to give me the tour young Robin?"

Robin coughed to clear his throat and looked back at Ravager, who was glaring at him and Starfire. "Uhm, sure Starfire, maybe you and Nightwing both, we've made some changes to it since he was here last and he might like to see them too.

Nightwing shook his head, "Sorry Tim, I need to really head back, I've gotta work tonight.

Starfire noticed the barely perceptible look of rejection on Robin's face then turned to Nightwing and took him by the hand.

"Please Nightwing, I would like for you to see the room of memorial with me. Besides, Robin seems very proud of it and you should not do the letting of him down."

Nightwing felt a tingle in the hand that Starfire was holding, making him felt both uncomfortable yet pleasant at the same time. He quickly looked up a Starfire and nodded.

"Ok, I guess it won't be too much trouble. Robin, take us to the memorial room."

Robin smiled brightly. "C'mon then. This way, follow me."

He gestured to Starfire and Robin to follow him and led them to the main door leading out of the common area. The girl dressed like Slade quickly stepped over to Robin and gave Starfire a hard look then moved closer to Robin to walk by his side.

Starfire raised an eyebrow in curiosity and then turned to Nightwing. "Richard, who is this girl who dresses like Slade?"

Nightwing raised an eyebrow back at Starfire and smirked slightly. "She goes by Ravager, but her real name is Rose Wilson and she's the daughter of Slade. Believe it or not Slade gave her over to me to train as a hero, a couple of years ago, which I did. Seems he didn't want her to follow in his path or something like that."

He lowered his voice. "She still has a lot of her father in her though and can be rough around the edges, but she's been an asset to the team with her fighting skills and her ability to know what will happen before it does. She's also taken with Tim, has been since she met him and is very protective of Robin, kinda like a warrior princess I used to know."

Starfire glanced furtively away from Nightwing as she felt the blood rush to her cheeks. Was he flirting with her, how dare he. She felt rage begin to rise in her, but she pushed it back, no sense in losing her temper here.

"Sorry Kory, I was just comparing how these two to how we used to act."

She looked back at him, and saw the honesty in his face. Maybe he was only stating a fact and she took it wrong. She was surprised at his perceptiveness and now she was felt slightly embarrassed. She took a deep breath to regain her bearings.

"No need to apologize Richard, you are correct, but if I remember, you were as protective of me, even more so than I was of you, even though I did not need the protection as much as you did." She said to Nightwing a sly grin on her face.

Nightwing stared for just a second then a smile crept across his face, "Touché, you are full of surprises aren't you?"

Starfire smiled and turned her attention back to the couple in front of them. Tim stopped at a door that used to be the evidence/trophy room; he then opened the door, and gestured for them to enter.

"I took some liberties with the old arrangement by expanding the room, using the old rarely used conference room and separating it into a memorial room and a trophy room. We finished about a month ago. I hope you like it." Robin said, with a bit of excitement in his voice.

Starfire and Nightwing entered into the room together, the new members of the Teen Titans slowly filed in and watched as the two legends walked into the room side-by-side. Some wondering what they must have been like when they occupied this building years ago. They felt awe as they watched them, wondering why these two heroes who were such icons not only as superheroes but as a couple, had long since separated from each other. All they knew is that Starfire left suddenly and mysteriously for Tamaran and never returned. Watching these two together now was almost epic in their young minds.

Starfire looked around the room and saw that each Titan had an area dedicated to him or her. Around the walls were pictures and likenesses of various Titans, some she knew and others she did not, but in the center of the room in front of a large section of wall was an area dedicated to the five original Teen Titans. The team that she was a founder of along with the man now known as Nightwing, Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy, who now went by Changeling.

She stepped over to this shrine that honored them, she noticed the arrangement of the statues: Beast Boy and Cyborg on the ends with Raven next to Beast Boy, and then Starfire's was next to Cyborg and Robin/Nightwing, was in the center. She slowly walked up to the memorial and started with Beast Boy's, around the podium at his feet were pictures of important events in his life, like his time with the Doom Patrol, him as different animals, him with his moped, the time when he flash froze The Brain. She then viewed Raven's memorial and it too had images of her like when she was White Raven, and one with her Melvin, Timmy, Teether and Bobby. She purposely avoided Robin's and her memorial and walked over to Cyborg's. His had images of him with his "babies," the T-Car, and the T-Ship, and pictures of him and Beast Boy playing video games and eating pizza together. There were also pictures from his life before he became Cyborg and one of him and Jinx at a dance when he was at the H.I.V.E. academy. She then viewed the Robin/Nightwing memorial, it had pictures with him and Batman before he left the Titans, a picture of the R-Cycle, various examples of all his gadgets, pictures of him jumping and leaping and one that caught her eye. It was a picture of him and her holding each other. She recognized it and knew it was from the time they were stranded on that alien planet together. The time when he had hurt her feelings, but also made her very happy, it was the picture taken of them waving to Cyborg and Beast Boy right after they interrupted their hug. She looked away and went over to the memorial wall behind the individual statures.

On the wall were several pictures of the five original Teen Titans doing various things together like the hanging out at the park, at the parlor of pizza, the store of videos, the boardwalk, the mall of shopping, the beach and in the Tower itself. There were also pictures of other honorary Titans with them too, especially during the Brotherhood of Evil's attempt to destroy them and other Titans that came after that like Wonder Girl, another one that looked like Kid Flash, but was different, and also the members of the Teen Titans she saw in the common room.

In one section of the memorial wall were pictures that made her feel nervous. These were clearly of Titans that became couples or were couples. There were pictures of Kid Flash and Jinx, Beast Boy and Raven, Cyborg and a pretty blonde girl that must be the girl he told her about, Red Star and Pantha, Bumble Bee and Herald, and one section where she did not want to look, but could not help it.

Her eyes were drawn to one picture in particular, one that she knew all too well. The five original Teen Titans were all in this picture as they were standing on a stage waving to the cheering citizens of Tokyo. In the picture she was standing next to Robin and they were clearly holding hands with the look of new lovers on their face. She worked hard to control her emotions, but the memories would not stay forgotten. It was one of the happiest days of her life, the day after their first romantic kiss. Her joy was so overwhelming on that day she could barely remain on the ground then. She and Robin were finally a couple.

She tried to take her eyes away, but she couldn't. There were other pictures of the two of them together, doing things that couples do, like dancing, being silly together, her snuggled up on his chest while he watched TV, a picture of them with Beast Boy and Raven on a double date, a picture of the time they went to visit his father and mentor, the Batman/Bruce Wayne. That picture made her chuckle slightly as it reminded her of the time when she found out that Robin was Richard Grayson, the ward of billionaire Bruce Wayne, and how she was excited and mad at the same time. It also reminded her of how complicated her relationship was with Richard. The last picture she saw was the picture taken right after he proposed marriage to her and in it she had on his engagement ring.

She couldn't look anymore; her emotions were in turmoil, with all vying for dominance. She made her way back the main memorial with the statues, and it felt like all of the Titans were watching every move she made. In all this, she did not realize that Richard had been by her side all the time. She tried not to look at him, but it was hard not to.

"Are you ok Kory?" He asked her gently.

She nodded, "I will be the fine. I am experiencing many memories and emotions I have suppressed over the years. I will manage."

She then turned and noticed her memorial with its pictures of her: One in her royal armor taken shortly after she arrived, one of her in Robin's costume, one of her holding a container of mustard with a straw and she realized how much she missed that delicious and spicy condiment that made a wonderful beverage. There was one picture though that was more than she could take, and she felt the tears welling in her eyes. It was a picture of her holding her little _bumgorf, _her little Silkie shortly after Robin said she could keep him. It was not so much his picture that made her sad, but the memory of her losing him. She had taken him to Tamaran with her by putting him in a special container to protect him from the harshness of space and super-light speed. She could not leave him on Earth and enjoyed having him with her at the palace. Even Galfore learned to love her little _bumgorf. _One day though he strayed too close to one of the _snorfblatts_ that were kept in the palace and all she heard was his squeal before he was gone. She cried for days after losing her Silkie and now the picture of him was more than she could bear.

Nightwing put his hands on her shoulders, "Star, are you ok. You look upset and pale."

"Silkie…," She choked out. She looked back at Nightwing and the others, her eyes tearing up.

"Please take me to my room, now please," She barely got out.

"Sure Star, anything, Tim, is her room ready?"

"Yes, the same room she had when she lived here, c'mon."

Raven touched her shoulder and Starfire felt calmer, though the emotions were still there. They led her to her old room and Robin quickly opened the door as Nightwing led her to the round bed in the center of the room.

Starfire sat on the edge of the bed with her head hanging down. Raven shooed the other Teen Titans away leaving only herself Nightwing, Robin and Ravager.

Nightwing knelt down next to her. "Star, Kory are you alright?"

She shook her head. "The memories, the emotions were too much."

She looked up Robin. "I offer apologies young Robin. I mean no insult of the memorials you have made, but there are many memories and emotions attached to them that I am not ready to face at this time." She made an attempt to smile. "I did find the memorial room very nice though and I wish to see it again when I am ready."

Nightwing looked around the room, remembering he made sure no one changed it, in the chance that Starfire might return and worried it might affect her too.

"Star, would you like another room, I mean, this room…, I wouldn't let them change it or give it to anyone else…, in case you decided to come back."

Starfire saw the concern on his face and then looked around the room. Everything was the same as she left it, down to the posters, stuffed animals and pictures.

"It is fine Richard. Thank you." She smiled a little brighter. "I will stay here, there were times I did miss this room," She then straightened up and ran her hands through her hair.

"I would like to rest now please. Richard, will I see you again?"

Nightwing took a deep breath, he really wasn't sure if she would. "Soon Star, I can't say when, since I start my new position this week, but soon."

She looked down and nodded her head. "I understand, I would like to talk with you again though…, about what we spoke of concerning my sister and General Ph'yzzon."

"Ok Star, I'll get back as soon as I can. Until I can clear the smoke with Batman though, I can't guarantee when that might be."

She nodded. "Yes that needs to be taken care of first. Please, all of you go now. Raven, please let me know when Garfield returns with the children, I would like to see them."

"Sure Star, I'll come get you then."

Raven then gestured for them to leave. Nightwing stood to leave, but Starfire took his hand in hers.

"Thank you again Richard."

He smiled back at her. "You're welcome Kory."

He lingered there for a moment then slowly removed his hand from hers and followed Raven out the door. Raven looked back in on Starfire who waved Raven on, who backed into the hallway and shut the door behind her.

Starfire stared at the door for some time, her emotions a wreck, and she felt weak. She had resolved herself to be strong, but the last few days had been exhausting. Now all the memories of the Titans Tower, the Teen Titans and seeing him again were more than she expected. She looked around the room and the memories overwhelmed her again. She couldn't hold it back any longer and the tears flowed from her eyes. She threw herself on the bed, her face jammed in a pillow and she cried herself to sleep.

TTT

"Will she be alright Raven?" Nightwing asked, truly concerned.

"I believe so. She's strong Dick, just the sight of all the memorabilia brought back some strong memories along with some strong emotions. She was suppressing her feelings from the moment she saw you in the hideout and even more here, but that picture of Silkie broke the dam and she couldn't hold it back any longer. There's fourteen years of suppressed emotions and memories she's trying to control and for a Tamaranean, that's going to be difficult. I'm here for her though and will help her through it. Oh, and I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but it wouldn't hurt for you to keep in contact with her. As much as she'd hate to admit it, you are a calming presence for her, but there is still plenty of anger, hurt and hate their too, but not as much as I felt when we first were at the mine hideout."

Nightwing grimaced, "I'll do what I can Raven, but I have to be careful not to let Batman or Martian Manhunter get a lead on where she's at. That and I have a girlfriend to answer to back in Bludhaven."

Raven smirked at Robin, "Are you sure about Catalina, Dick? She's not one of us you know and it could lead to other complications…"

Nightwing interrupted her, irritation in his voice, "Raven, I am sure about Catalina Flores. I haven't been this sure in while. I'll admit seeing Kory again complicates things, but it's been fourteen years and it's time to move on. She moved on from me, being married twice after she left. Hell, she didn't even want to see me at all until she had no choice."

Raven held up her hand, "Ok, no problems and no harassing you about Starfire. Just be careful Dick, the emotional bond between the two of you is strong and I don't want you to make her think something different. I'm glad you did tell her what you felt in the mine and she felt the same, but it wouldn't take much for you two to fall back into each other's arms."

Nightwing stared at Raven expressionlessly, "Raven you can't be serious."

Raven smirked even more, "More serious than you realize Mr. Grayson. How about this, you go back to Bludhaven and be with Catalina as much as possible. You know to clear you head and emotions of Starfire, then contact her. Then you'll know, ok?"

Nightwing rolled his eyes behind his mask, "Sure Raven, I'll do just that. Now why don't you send me back to Bludhaven, I've got a shift to do tonight."

"Sure, no problem, but don't be a stranger," She said this as she opened a portal and took him back to his Sanctuary.

"Here we are, Dick. Courtesy of the Raven Midnight Express, I'll meditate here for a bit, then head back. You on the other hand get back into your civvies and get some rest; it's been a trying day for you too."

Nightwing shook his head, and entered the changing room and quickly threw on some sweats.

"See you later Raven. Keep an eye on her for me."

"I will Dick now get your rest."

Nightwing, now Dick Grayson, looked at Raven for a moment, then shrugged and entered back into the guest room in his apartment. He was thankful that Catalina wasn't there so he jumped in his bed to catch a quick nap.

Only he couldn't nap. Instead his mind was on what happened at Titans Tower and Starfire. He tossed and turned, the memory of her touch fresh on his mind. He threw a pillow across the room in frustration roaring at no one in particular. He hoped that Raven was gone by now and she didn't hear him. Then again if she were still here, he would've sensed her by now, through their bond. He took a deep breath and threw himself down on the bed, running his hands through his hair.

"Dammit Kory, why now, of all times did you have to come back into my life!"

TTT

**An Abandoned Automobile Assembly Plant**

**North of Bludhaven**

He cautiously entered the main floor of the abandoned assembly plant, not sure what to think of the location his client demanded for the meeting. Much of the assembly line was stripped, but there was still enough of the machinery that made it easy to hide and strike from. The assembly line reminded him of the skeleton of some giant prehistoric beast that creaked with the wind that blew through the busted out windows.

The plant use to assemble full sized SUV's, but like many other plants like it, it fell victim to the surge in gas prices and the recession. The plant used run three shifts and overtime just four years ago, now it was shut down, the company that owned it, cast it off like a worn out shoe, along with the employees that used to work here, many who still couldn't find work. He grimaced under his mask and kept an eye out for anything. He touched a specific place on his right glove with his index finger and a heads-up display came on inside the mask. Another touch started the infra-red sensors. He looked around looking for heat signatures, only finding the occasional rat or other small vermin.

"Well Dick, at least you were smart enough to put in some nice gadgets in this suit, too bad you didn't get to keep it." He said under his breath.

He walked deeper into the plant, not liking that no one approached him yet, when he heard a noise like a pebble, no a bolt from the assembly line falling to the floor. He quickly turned around to see what it was, but he saw nothing, even with the advanced optics of the mask. He turned back around the saw the dark shape in front of him, maybe 5 yards away. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"I'm here like you requested," He said tentatively

The figure stood silent for a moment, then took a step forward before it spoke in a gravelly voice.

"You told me you knew where she was. Now where is she?"

"I do, but it will cost you."

The figure stood silent.

"Ok then, I guess you don't want to know, I'll just take my leave then." Red X turned around and started to walk away.

The shape was suddenly in front of him again . "Tell me where she is and I'll make it worth your while."

He stopped, "And what would that be my mysterious friend?"

"The key code to a large supply of xynothium, enough to power your suit for quite some time."

Red X considered the offer, but felt guilty in at betraying Kory. He'd come to consider a close friend and he had to admit he had feelings for her, but his accounts were frozen and he needed to find a way to meet his needs. Even his safe houses were being watched. Beside he didn't like that she was under Dick's protection either. She was wanted by both the Justice League and the several criminal organizations and the information he had he would give to the highest bidder.

"That's tempting, but I want my accounts freed-up. I understand you can override the hold on them and give me time to move the money to other accounts."

The figure snorted, "You might as well ask for the keys to Fort Knox."

"Are you offering?" Red X said half-jokingly.

"No of course not, but I can override the hold on your accounts. Only if the information you say is true."

"Sounds reasonable."

"So, where is she?" The figure asked again.

"How do I know you'll pay up, hell we haven't even shaken hands, and I doubt you're the type to give me a receipt?" Red X quipped.

"Here's the key code to the xynothium supply. You can find the cache in a warehouse located in Star City, near the rail yards on the west side of the city. The warehouse number is X11. This code along with the badge will get you in. I'll leave the rest up to you." The figure threw a zip-lock bag on the ground between them.

Red X cautiously picked it up. "How do I know it will work?" He said holding up the bag.

"You don't, but it will. I have no reason to lie to you."

Red X took a deep breath then answered, "She's in Titans Tower in Jump City."

"Damn!" The figure said abruptly.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"That's not a place I want to go or send others to capture Starfire. Too many meta's there."

"Well you know where she is, I've kept my part of the bargain, now you keep yours."

"Really," The figure said flatly. "You think that his information is worth what you want? No, I can't retrieve the fugitive there, it's too risky. Instead, if you want your accounts freed up, then you will break into Titans Tower and retrieve her for me. From what I understand, you've broken into the Tower before, on more than one occasion, you can do it again."

Red X stood there dumbfounded, yeah he'd broke in there before, but that was when Dick and the crew lived there. A whole different lot lived there now and they are plenty different than the original Teen Titans. He wasn't sure if the suit was up to the task in fighting some of the newer Teen Titans.

"You hesitate. It appears I'll have to get someone else to retrieve her." The figure said and began to walk away.

Red X fidgeted, battling within himself, but he needed his money. "Wait, I'll do it. Once I hand her over to you, then you'll override the hold."

The figure stopped, "Yes."

"Done, I'll have her to you ASAP."

"Forty-eight hours, you have forty-eight hours or I find someone else."

"Sure, I can that. Where do I bring her?"

"I'll let you know once you've retrieved her. I'll know when you do and I'll contact you." The figured said then disappeared into the darkness of the assembly plant.

Red X stood there, thinking about what just happened. The client must have access to infra-red blocking technology, because his sensors never picked him up. Exactly who was his client anyway? Well, that didn't matter as much as that he was betraying Kory, not really though. As soon as his accounts were unfrozen, he'd move the money to secure accounts in the Caymans, Switzerland and Curacao then rescue Kory. She may hate him for it, but he didn't know what else to do.

* * *

**No there is no romance in this chapter, just two old lovers dealing with years of repressed feelings after seeing each other again. How they deal with it in later chapters may be a bit interesting.**

**Steve and Rita Dalton are Mento and Elasti-Girl from the Doom Patrol and Beast Boy's adoptive parents, oh and Steve Dalton is wealthier than Bruce Wayne.**

**As far as I know, there is no romantic feelings between the Tim Drake Robin and Rose Wilson, AKA Ravager, but I liked the idea of pairing the up, mostly for the irony of it. In the comics, Slade Wilson does have Nightwing train Rose Wilson, and Rose develops a girl crush on a much older Dick Grayson. Also Rose has a relationship with Kid Devil for the most part in the comics and not Tim (or at least I'm not aware of it).**


	14. Memories

**Beast Boy moment coming up**

_**The characters belong to DC and Time-Warner, and I in no way own them or plan to make money off of them, but the story belongs to me.**_

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Memories**

_It was a spring day, if one could say spring happened in Jump City. The weather here was usually pleasant, except for the winter rains, and the leaves that fell from the trees in the autumn, there was not much else that heralded the change of seasons. Since her time on Earth she understood that in many places that the seasons changed every three months or so due to the tilt of the Earth, unlike Tamaran, that hardly ever changed seasons since its axis was only tilted by two degrees._

_She was perched on a wall at the San Marcos overlook that gave a wonderful view of Jump City Bay. The sun was going down, making the view even more majestic. Even for a being that could fly, she found the view glorious. She never got over the sight of how Earth's oceans and land masses merged together, there was no such geography on Tamaran, since her home world had no oceans or large bodies of water. Much of the water was underground, in swamps or rivers and streams._

"_Enjoying the view?" The voice of Nightwing, startled her from her reverie. _

"_Yes, the view is quite the beautiful." She answered_

"_When I discovered it a few months after arriving in Jump City I would come up here to think and clear my head. Especially after the Tower was built and Beast Boy and Cyborg's arguing about eating meat or being a vegetarian would get on my nerves. The view was breath-taking and there was nothing like it in Gotham. I used to wonder if this is how you saw the city when you would fly, or sometimes I'd come up here and just think about you."_

_Starfire cheeks flushed, then she smiled at him. "You would do the thinking of me?"_

_Mm-hmm, I did. Sometimes I wondered if you thought of me as more than a friend. I would think about how much I liked you and how much you meant to me. Then I would tell myself I shouldn't think about you in that way. You were a team member, and Batman always said it was bad to have relationships with team members."_

"_Yes, I remember you telling me that." Starfire said with a hint of sadness._

"_Yeah, I know, I realized later, he was just being who he was." He smiled and put his hands in his jacket pockets. _

_Starfire liked seeing him out of his uniform and in civilian clothes. She liked that he relaxed his, "Only Uniforms Outside of the Tower" rule. There were many times she wanted to go out to the mall of shopping or the park or other places wearing what the other people wore. All the beautiful colors and styles of human clothing fascinated her and she wanted to try them all. _

"_What else did you think about Richard?" She liked how he allowed them to call each other by their given names too. _

"_Well, I thought about how much I couldn't stand to lose you after that time you almost got married to that slime ball, but I also found out you were a princess. Even though I was glad you wanted to come back to Earth with us, I also thought I wouldn't have chance with you either. Why would a princess want a guy like me?"_

_Starfire giggled, "That is the silly Richard. I wanted to come back, so I no longer had to be a princess and I wanted to be with you."_

_Nightwing chuckled, "Yeah, I know that now Kory, but when it came to girls, I was slow back then. I liked you, I wanted to tell you, but the old Batman training kept stopping me. What woke me up was when Cyborg called you my girlfriend, I freaked out, I didn't know what to do or say, so being the idiot I was, I refuted that and regretted it as soon as I said it."_

_She looked down at her dangling feet. "That seems like a long time ago now."_

"_Yes it does, though it's only been a couple of years now. Things have changed since then, haven't they?" He said as he nuzzled up to her, wrapping his arms around her waist._

_Starfire nodded, "Yes I believe they have."_

_Since Tokyo, things had changed very much between them. They had grown closer as boyfriend and girlfriend and he had grown more comfortable with himself and her. He even told her he loved her a few months ago. They also became more open with each other and he allowed her to help him in solving cases. He found that she had a very astute mind that was quick at deductive reasoning. _

"_You know Kory, I love you very much. You've helped me to grow, mature and move on from being the sidekick of Batman and become a hero of my own. It was you who gave me the idea to become Nightwing and you helped me in that transition. I feel like you're a part of me, more than just a team mate or a girlfriend, but truly a part of me."_

_He took Starfire by the hand and guided her over to stand by him. _

"_Kory, I can't think of a life without you. You've become so much a part of my life that I want you to be in it for the rest of my life." _

_Nightwing dropped to one knee and pulled out a small box. Starfire put her hand up to her lips; she couldn't believe what was happening._

"_Koriand'r, Starfire, Kory, we've gone through a lot and grown as friends and more, you are my best friend and the love of my life. I want to be with you now and forever. Will you honor me by being my wife?" He then opened the box which contained a silver-colored ring with a significant diamond surrounded by smaller, purple and green gemstones. _

_Starfire was speechless, to her marriage meant a treaty, a political union between kingdoms, nations and clans. On Earth though, it could mean that, but mostly marriage was between two people that loved each other very much and wanted to join together to create a family. She knew that was what Richard's proposal meant, but part of her was unsure. It was her intention to stay by his side the rest of her life, but she was surprised he was ready to make that commitment._

_She looked at Nightwing and could see that he was not sure of what to do. He looked down and started to put the ring back in his pocket. Starfire quickly reached out and stopped him._

"_Yes Richard, I will be your wife and you will be my husband." _

_Now it was Nightwing's turn to be surprised. "Really, I mean…, I thought..., you know when you didn't answer right away that you were going to turn me down. I thought that maybe..."_

"_Richard, stop talking. I was surprised that is all. I am pleased and honored that you would ask me so and at such beautiful place."_

"_Thanks Kory…, uh, do you want to try on the ring?"_

"_Of course, it is a most beautiful ring – will not my star bolts damage it though?"_

"_They shouldn't, the ring is made from a new tungsten alloy that is resistant to high heat and damage. The gems should withstand the energy easily I would think."_

_Starfire put on the ring and admired in on her hand._

"_Richard the ring is most beautiful. Thank you!"_

_She threw her arms around Nightwing's neck and pulled him in to kiss him, a most wonderful and joyous kiss. She spun around with him in her arms, then something felt different. His arms were no longer around her and the heat of the sun was harsher than a minute ago and she was no long spinning. Her feet were firmly on a hard surface and when she opened eyes she was now standing on her balcony at the palace in Tamerus, the capital city of Tamaran._

"_Princess, is everything all right. You seem distracted."_

_Starfire turned to face the familiar voice and it was the handsome face of Prince Karras._

"_Oh yes, yes. I was just lost in thought."_

"_I see. So, do you agree to the proposal?" He asked._

_Starfire barely shook her head and returned his answer with a questioning look. "What proposal?"_

"_The proposal concerning the marriage treaty Koriand'r, do you agree to it?"_

_Starfire realized she had been lost in reminiscing about the day Richard Grayson, Nightwing, proposed to her. Now she was back on Tamaran entertaining another proposal in less than two Earth years. Only this time it was for a Tamaranean marriage of treaty to a man who even though he was her good friend, his heart belonged to another; one that his parents and title forbade him to marry._

_Starfire pressed her lips together in thought and clasped her hands in front of her. "As is my duty to my people, I will agree to this proposal. It will be a marriage of treaty only as you have said."_

_Prince Karras nodded his head. "Yes a marriage of treaty, of course the particulars will need to be negotiated, since the original arrangement with your father is no longer valid."_

"_Yes, new arrangements will need to be made." Starfire said quietly. _

_She looked at Karras her eyes dulled by sadness. "How soon before Tayria is made your legal concubine?"_

_Karras grimaced, turned away and sighed, "I will follow the tradition of the First Year if you wish Princess Korirand'r."_

_Starfire placed her hand on his shoulder, "Karras, you do not have to follow the tradition if you do not wish to. I know you love Tayria very much and you gave your heart to her as I did mine to another, though that one betrayed me."_

_Karras turned towards Koriand'r, his eyes full of sympathy; he put a hand on her cheek and she placed her hand on his. _

"_Oh Kory, how heartbroken you must be to have your _k'orv'a _betray you in such a way. Had I known you would return I would not have consorted with Tayria as I did, please forgive me for that?"_

"_There is nothing to forgive Karras, you did as your heart led you as did I. It is most unfortunate that we do not know the path that X'hal has set before us and she can be a cruel mistress."_

_Karras removed his hand and nodded, "Yes, you are right." _

_He took a deep breath, "You know the royal families and the people of Tamaran will expect us to produce an heir."_

_Koriand'r nodded, "I do, and I hope to give you strong sons and daughters that will rule Tamaran with honor."_

_Karras smiled sympathetically, "Yes, and I hope to make you as happy as I can and give you the best marriage I can under the circumstances. I know neither of us can change who owns our hearts, but the least we can do is to be friends and hopefully good parents."_

_Koriandr's smile was more genuine now, "I would like that Karras, even when we were younger you were kind to me and you are kind to me now._

_She turned and looked back over her balcony. "With the houses of And'r and Ras united in marriage, maybe finally the ancient House of Tikal will finally be at peace and the threat of civil war will be no more."_

_Karras put his arm around Korand'r. "Yes Koriand'r may our marriage be the final step that permanently unites the people of Tamaran for ages to come."_

_There was a loud banging at the door of her royal apartments. She tried to ignore it, but it continued and would not stop. She excused herself from Karras and went to the door and opened it. When she did she gasped. At her door was a beaten and bloodied Nightwing held up by a malicious looking General Ph'yzzon. _

"_Here is your _k'orv'a_ Princess, maybe now your heart is free to give to one truly worthy of it._

_Ph'yzzon let go of Nightwing and he fell limply to the floor, and she saw the curved blade of _vikan'a _sword sticking out of his back. Ph'yzzon laughed at her as she looked on in horror as a scream erupted from the depths of her soul._

Starfire sat up in bed still screaming then she stopped. She looked around, her eyes moving rapidly, not knowing where she was at first, then put her hands up to her face, mostly to see if she was awake. Her breathing began to slow and she realized she was in her old room in Titans Tower on Earth. She placed a hand on her chest, in an attempt to calm herself, and that's when she heard the banging and the sound of children's laughter outside her room in the hall way.

She got out of the bed and she was covered in sweat and naked. She must have removed her outfit and armor in her sleep. She grabbed a robe she found hanging on a chair and threw it over her nakedness, not wanting to shock the Earthers. She made her way to her door and opened it cautiously to see a ten year old light green-skinned girl and eight year old gray-skinned boy, both had blue-black hair and blue eyes. They both stopped and looked up at her, their eyes wide open and jaws dropped. The boy dropped the ball of dirty socks and was about to flee when Starfire reached out and stopped him.

"You must be Joshua, and you young lady must be Arianna, and I see you have taken up your fathers love for the stink ball." She said, smiling at them both.

The boy did not take his eyes off of her, but the girl spoke up.

"You must be Starfire! Daddy talked a lot about you. Are you really a princess from another planet?" The girl said excitedly.

Starfire winked at her, "Why yes I am, or at least I was."

"You don't look like a princess." The boy said.

"Oh really, and why is that young man?" Starfire said with mock haughtiness.

"Where's your crown and stick thingy, you know the one that princesses carry to bonk bad people on the head with."

Starfire started to giggle, that turned to a hearty laugh when she saw the confused look on the boy's face. She was laughing so hard that she had to sit down. The two children started to laugh with her.

The laughter died down then the girl took a lock of Starfire's hair in her fingers and then looked her over closely. "You're pretty enough to be a princess."

"No she's not, she's funny lookin'" Little Joshua stated as a matter of fact.

"I am the funny looking, why is that young man?"

"Well for one thing…"

"There you two are." A male voice said from down the hallway.

"Starfire! Is that really you!?" The same voice said and Starfire looked up to see who could only be Beast Boy, though he was a boy no more. He was taller, his muscles were well defined and a quite handsome. He was shirtless and wearing a pair of basketball shorts. She stood up to greet her old team mate.

"Garfield, is that you?"

"In the flesh Star, though a bit older and wiser, I see you've met the kids. Have they been bothering you?"

"Well they did wake me up, but it is the ok. I was having a bad dream anyway."

He looked at her concerned, "Is everything ok Star?"

Starfire sighed, "As well as can be at the moment Garfield. I believe you know that I was brought here by Nightwing to protect me from the Justice League."

"Yeah, Raven told me about that. I wish we were seeing you under better circumstances, though I'm glad to see you."

Starfire smiled, "And I you Garfield Logan." Of all the Teen Titans that she felt had betrayed her, she believed Beast Boy to be the one who knew the least. She regretted that she had grown to hate him too, and silently asked X'hal to forgive her of such a trespass.

Starfire stood up and hugged him, "Your children are beautiful. Joshua has Raven's personality and Arianna is more like you. You must be proud of them;" she said as she released him and gestured towards his children.

A big grin crept across his face. "You can say that, but they can be a pain like their old man was in his day." He paused for a moment and took in the sight of Starfire, then he hugged her back catching her a bit off guard.

It's good to have you back in the Tower…, at least for now. The place just isn't the same without you Star."

Starfire gently pushed back from him, "Thank you Garfield, but it is only temporary, or at least until I determine a more permanent solution to my circumstance."

Garfield frowned, "Can we change your mind Star, we'd love to have you back with the Titans."

Starfire shook her head, "I don't know Garfield, there are too many memories here, and some are too painful for me right now. I hear you go by Changeling now?" She said trying to changed the subject.

Garfield nodded, "Yep, that's what I go by now, not really a boy anymore, so Beast Boy just didn't fit and Beast Man didn't sound right to me so I started going by Changeling." He stopped and looked more thoughtful, "Raven told about what happened last night and poor Tim, he's feeling all sort of guilt about it. He wished he never showed you the memorial room."

Starfire placed a hand on Changeling's shoulder. "It is not Tim's fault, he wouldn't have understood and he was very proud of the memorial. I feel bad for the making of a scene. I will apologize to him as soon as possible."

Changeling smiled, "Sure, that'd be good."

He then reached out to his children and called them over to his side, "Alright you two, go wash up and put that nasty, old stink ball away, then wash up again. Mom's got your breakfast ready."

The two children begrudgingly headed off down the hallway leaving Changeling and Starfire alone. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two, until Changeling spoke up.

"I meant what I said about it being nice to have you in the Tower again Star, it never was the same without you."

Starfire audibly sighed, "Please Garfield, I'd rather not…"

Changeling held up his hand to interrupt her, "Star, you don't have to talk about it, but I do. Please hear me out."

Starfire looked at him, a rather surprised look on her face, "Oh, ok. Say what you need to say."

Changeling's face took on a serious look, something Starfire did not recall seeing much of, then he cleared his throat to speak.

"Star, I know that what happened between you and Dick was horrible, and it broke my heart that it happened. I understand why you left, it makes sense why you did, but when we never heard from you again, well… I was devastated. You were like a big sister to me and my best friend, well after Vic of course. You're leaving like that just sucked, not for me but all of us… Personally I don't care if it sucked for Dick Grayson or not, but for the rest of us, it just wasn't fair."

Starfire wasn't sure what to think of Changeling's candor, she attempted to be calm in her answer to him.

"Garfield, from my perspective all of you were trying to protect him and siding with him. I felt betrayed by all of you not just him. By _X'hal_, even Raven tried to enter my mind and erase what I saw, or at least that is what I believed she was trying to do, so I stopped her by blasting her as you well know. All of you wanted me to ignore what Dick had done to me and I would not allow anyone, including my friends from ignoring such a horrible transgression of my trust and our relationship!"

Starfire was breathing harder, the irritation clear in her voice, but Changeling would didn't back down.

"Really, that's how you saw what we were trying to do? Sure we wanted you to stop and get yourself under control. You were angry and rightfully so, but you didn't even stop to think that the whole thing might not have been as bad as you thought it was, or at least have waited long enough to hear his side of the story. What I saw was not the Starfire I knew and grew to love as a big sister, no what I saw as the angry Tamaranean that tried to destroy Jump City years ago. Now you want to hear something that even Dick doesn't know? Well, guess what he and Barbara never went all the way that night. I know because Barbara told me. She told me that other than making out under the influence of the mickey Bruce Wayne slipped in their drinks that Dick passed out and she did not long after he did. Nothing more happened between them."

Starfire's face was twisted in disbelief, "Really? But I saw them in bed together, his arm around her."

Garfield's face was stone, "Did you see anything else Kory? Did you catch them in the act, were they actually in the throes of passion or just sleeping?"

"What was I to think, they were in bed together, that is all I needed to know." She answered defiantly

Garfield shook his head, "And that was enough for you to run all the way back to Tamaran? Star, c'mon, the Starfire I knew would've confronted Dick, maybe have called off the wedding, but run? No, that's not like you at all."

Starfire wanted to be angry at Changeling, but she knew in heart he was right, she would not have run, that was the way of the coward. She had always considered it was the shock of the betrayal that caused her to react in such an extreme way, but she knew herself better than that. Maybe there was another reason, but why she wasn't sure.

She leaned against the wall, not sure of what to do or say. She felt weak too and knew she was emotionally compromised. Then she looked back a Changeling who seemed to be waiting for her to say something.

"Garfield, I am not the sure… I feel confused…"

Her face grew sad, "I am sorry Garfield, what have I done? Did I throw away fourteen years of my life? I do not know why I ran, but I did, that I cannot change, I just wish I now knew what to do."

Changeling gently smiled at her, "Star, I've always been your friend, and I want to continue to be your friend. If you stay, I can help, maybe later as you come to trust us more, maybe Raven can help or the others. It might be best to leave Nightwing out of this though, at least for now, there's too much baggage between the two of you. I'll tell you this though, is I think Batman had more to do with your running away than the mickey he slipped Dick and Barbara. I'm willing to bet my prized baseball card collection on it.

Starfire looked confused, "But why Garfield, why would he do such a thing?"

"I don't know Star, I know he doesn't like aliens very much and he never liked that you and Dick were together and the idea of an alien in his family was something he didn't want. That's my guess anyway. One thing I'd like to know is if he somehow planted the suggestion in your mind, not sure how he did it, but wouldn't surprise me if he did."

Starfire considered what Changeling said, "I don't know Garfield, Dick did say that Bruce didn't intend for me to run away, or for me to catch Dick and Barbara in bed together. Dick told me that Bruce only wanted for Dick to feel guilty and call off the wedding."

Changeling shrugged, "That could be true, but you're reaction makes me think differently. Listen Raven can use her abilities to scan your mind and soul to see if a spell was cast, but only if you want her to. If one was, it would explain your reaction and maybe purge you of it."

Starfire glanced sideways at Changeling, "Would it not be gone by now Garfield and since when did the Batman use magic?"

"Depends, there could be some residual magic or more if it was powerful enough. With Batman, there's no telling what he's capable of. He knows some very powerful magical beings, both heroes and villains, so it's possible. Listen after being married to Raven for 12 years; I've kinda got an understanding of these things. Still can't wrap my mind all around it, but I know more that I used too."

Starfire pursed her lips in consideration of what Changeling said. "Garfield, I will consider what you have said, it definitely has merit, then let you know what I would like to do. In the meantime, I would like to catch a shower and freshen up a bit before venturing out of my room for the breaking of the fast."

"Sure Star, take your time. Call me if you need me. Please consider my invitation to stay though. The new kids could use some of your expertise too."

"I will Garfield and thank you for being a good friend."

Garfield turned and headed down the hall in direction his children had left. Starfire watched as he walked away, thinking to herself what a good man he had grown into and that Raven was blessed to have him. She then returned to room to get ready for a good shower and to think on the things said by Changeling. He may be on to something that she never considered in the past fourteen years and if he were right, it may change many things for her now and in the future.

* * *

**Well I thought Beast Boy/Garfield/Changeling would be the best one to get Starfire to see things from a different perspective and there's more to Garfield than meets the eye. Of all the Titans, I think Starfire would feel that she could trust Beast Boy more than anybody else. **

**In the comics when Dick Grayson proposed to Starfire, she believed he did it to please her or was rushed in doing so. She didn't feel that his heart was truly in it, but she accepted his proposal because she wanted to be his wife very much. I tried to touch on that a little bit here, though a bit more subtle in my approach. The marriage to Karras in the comics was pretty much the same here, a marriage of treaty that ended in disaster. She liked Karras, but did not love him as she did Dick Grayson.**

**I hoped you liked the chapter.**

**Until later,**

**Hammer of Oblivion.**


End file.
